Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- A termination in adjectives of French or other Romance origin, meaning ‘having the style or manner of,’ as in grotcsque, picturesq ue, arabesque, Moresque, Dantesque, etc.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- A suffix of certain words from the French, Italian, and Spanish. It denotes
manner orstyle ;like .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- suffix In the
style ormanner of; appended to nouns, especially proper nouns, and forming adjectives. - suffix
Resembling ; appended to nouns, especially proper nouns, and forming adjectives.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Hardy gained an additional 30 lbs. of muscle thanks to physical training and lived out a "Rocky"-esque fantasy in scenes where he waded through crowds of cheering fans on his way toward the fighting cage.
Tom Hardy, from 'Warrior' battles to Batman brawls Reuters 2011
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The judges sit in "Jetsons"-esque chairs facing away from the performers, so they focus only on the quality of the voices.
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In other words, investors don't see Harrisburg heralding a Meredith Whitney -esque muni-meltdown.
Overheard: Big Shrug 2011
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The good professor's recent "there's no heaven" moment of "Imagine"-esque aplomb is what it is.
Christopher Cocca: Heaven, Hell And Stephen Hawking Christopher Cocca 2011
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In forming an adjective, -esque strikes me as a more elegant suffix than -ish, as in enronish or the less critical enronlike.
The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time William Safire 2004
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In forming an adjective, -esque strikes me as a more elegant suffix than -ish, as in enronish or the less critical enronlike.
The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time William Safire 2004
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Driven by mandolin, acoustic guitar and Zuniga's unmistakably Lennon -esque vocals, the tune, co-written by Oreste Gargaro, describes an experience not uncommon for touring musicians: writing a love song while far away from its subject.
News 2011
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Srsly? and are saturated with references to popular culture in a "Scrubs"-y/"Community"-esque attempt to delight the young'uns.
The Washington Post: National, World & D.C. Area News and Headlines - washingtonpost.com 2011
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If you don't want a "Nanny Diaries"-esque roman a clef surfacing, it may cost you.
The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com The Huffington Post 2012
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ABC's new "Desperate Housewives"-esque dramedy has gone through a few good names: "Good Christian Bitches" was toned down a bit to "Good Christian Belles" and...
The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com Chris Harnick 2012
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