Shakespearean

English

Alternative forms

• Shakespearian
• Shakesperian, Shaksperian (archaic)

Etymology

Shakespeare +‎ -ean

Pronunciation

• enPR: shāk-spîrʹē-ən
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ʃeɪkˈspɪəɹi.ən/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ʃeɪkˈspɪɹi.ən/
• Rhymes: -ɪəɹiən, -ɪɹiən

Adjective

Shakespearean (comparative more Shakespearean, superlative most Shakespearean)

1. (literature) Of or pertaining to, characteristic of, associated with, or suggestive of William Shakespeare (an English playwright), his works, or his authorship, or the time in which he lived.
   • 1851 June – 1852 April, Harriet Beecher Stowe, chapter XI, in Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life among the Lowly, volume I, Boston, Mass.: John P[unchard] Jewett & Company; Cleveland, Oh.: Jewett, Proctor & Worthington, published 20 March 1852, →OCLC:

     […] there were those who had them set far over back—wide-awake men, who wanted a clear prospect; while careless men, who did not know, or care, how their hats sat, had them shaking about in all directions. The various hats, in fact, were quite a Shakespearean study.

   • 1922, G[ilbert] K[eith] Chesterton, “The Hole in the Wall”, in The Man Who Knew Too Much […] ‎^[1], London: Cassell and Company, pages 80–81:

     The boisterous Bulmer playfully made a pass at him with his drawn sword, going forward with the lunge in the proper fencing fashion, and making a somewhat too familiar Shakespearean quotation about a rodent and a Venetian coin.

   • 1973, Gore Vidal, chapter 25, in Burr:

     Meanwhile, I presided over the Senate. I also dined quite frequently with the President who continued to delight and fascinate me with his conversation, not to mention his wonderful malice which was positively Shakespearean in its variety.

   • 2023 May 7, Michael Billington, “The Coronation review – immaculately rehearsed, touching and Shakespearean”, in The Guardian‎^[2], →ISSN:

     There was indeed something Shakespearean about both the service in the abbey and the marches that surrounded it. By Shakespearean I mean there was a blend of pageantry, procession, music and mystery.

2. Derivative of Shakespeare's works or authorship.
3. Composed of Shakespearean sonnets.

Derived terms

• Shakespeareanism
• Shakespeareanize
• Shakespeareanly
• Shakespeareanness
• Shakespearean sonnet

 

Related terms

• Bacon-Shakespearean
• Shakespeareana

Translations

pertaining to Shakespeare or his works

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 莎士比亞的／莎士比亚的 (Shāshìbǐyà de), 莎士比亞作品的／莎士比亚作品的 (Shāshìbǐyà zuòpǐn de), 莎士比亞風格的／莎士比亚风格的 (Shāshìbǐyà fēnggé de)

• Czech: shakespearovský (cs)
• Dutch: van Shakespeare, Shakespearein
• Esperanto: ŝekspira
• Finnish: Shakespearen
• French: shakespearien (fr)
• Greek: σαιξπηρικός (el) (saixpirikós)
• Hungarian: shakespeare-i
• Italian: scespiriano (it), shakespeariano (it)
• Japanese: シェークスピアの (Shēkusupia no)
• Macedonian: шекспировски (šekspirovski), шекспирски (šekspirski)
• Polish: Szekspirowski (pl), szekspirowski (pl)
• Portuguese: shakespeariano
• Russian: шекспи́ровский (ru) (šekspírovskij), шекспи́рский (šekspírskij)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: шѐкспӣрскӣ, шекспирѝја̄нскӣ

  Roman: šèkspīrskī (sh), šekspirìjānskī (sh)

• Spanish: shakespeariano

Noun

Shakespearean (plural Shakespeareans)

1. A scholar of the works of Shakespeare.
   • 1909, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “Is Shakespeare Dead?”, in What Is Man? And Other Essays, New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers, published May 1917, page 341:

     Another lawyer and well-known Shakespearian, Richard Grant White, says: "No dramatist of the time, not even [Francis] Beaumont, who was the younger son of a judge of the Common Pleas, and who after studying in the Inns of Court abandoned law for the drama, used legal phrases with Shakespeare's readiness and exactness. […]"

2. A person trained to act in Shakespeare's plays.