picaresque
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picaresque
- /pɪkəˈɹɛsk/ US, UK
Where it comes from
From picaro (“adventurer, rogue”) + -esque (suffix meaning ‘in the style or manner of’ forming adjectives), modelled after Spanish picaresco (“in the style or manner of a picaro; picaresque”), from pícaro (“rogue”) + -esco (suffix forming adjectives indicating a relation). Compare French picaresque (attested later than the English word), Italian picaresco, Portuguese picaresco.
adjective more picaresque · most picaresque
-
Of or pertaining to adventurers or rogues.
The blue and white of the Murano background and the frankly picaresque tramp seem to form strange bed-fellows for the supper-party below stairs into which any gentleman's gentleman of the siècle de Dr. [Samuel] Johnson might have walked at any moment. [Describing an adaptation of Carlo Goldoni's The
Similar: roguish
- Characteristic of a genre of Spanish satiric novel dealing with the adventures of a roguish hero. A mere piece of roguery told in the abstract, without the proper picaresque ornaments, its manifold sinuosities and dexterities, has no interest for the reader; it may recommend the executor of it to the administration of a cat-o-nine-tails, or to an honourable post in the gallies: but there is no m
noun picaresques
- A picaresque novel. Du sublime au ridicule il n'y a qu'un pas [From the sublime to the ridiculous there is only one step]; and that step in Spain was taken by Diego Hurtado de Mendoza (already dealt with in his higher walk), the originator of the Picaresque, or low rogue's march novels, of which his Lazarillo de Tormes
Translations
Every language
adj of or pertaining to rogues
| Español | picaresco |
|---|---|
| Português | picaresco, picaresca |
| Français | picaresque |
| Deutsch | pikaresk, pikarisch, spitzbübisch |
| Italiano | picaresco, picaresca |
| Русский | плутовско́й plutovskój |
noun picaresque novel
| Español | novela picaresca |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 피카레스크 소설 pikareseukeu soseol |
| 日本語 | 悪漢小説 akkanshōsetsu |
| 中文 | 流浪漢小說 /流浪汉小说 liúlànghànxiǎoshuō |
| Português | romance picaresco |
| Français | picaresque |
| Deutsch | Schelmenroman |
| Italiano | romanzo picaresco |
| Ελληνικά | πικαρέσκο pikarésko |
| Română | roman picaresc |
| Русский | плутовско́й plutovskój, пикаре́скный рома́н pikarésknyj román |
| العربية | رواية شطارية |
| עברית | רומן פיקרסקי |
Talk about this word "picaresque." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/picaresque. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. picaresque. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/picaresque "picaresque." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/picaresque.Cite this
@misc{picaresque_2026,
title = {picaresque},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/picaresque},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
