Word.ws English Dictionary

Beckettian

Beckettian adjective: of or pertaining to the novelist and playwright Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) or his writings, noted for their bleak outlook and minimalism.

Adjective

Beckettian (comparative more Beckettian, superlative most Beckettian)

  1. Of or pertaining to the novelist and playwright Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) or his writings, noted for their bleak outlook and minimalism.
    • The Beckettian progression appears occasionally: while Miss Counihan (static) is an omnivorous reader and Murphy (transitional) a strict non-reader, Cooper is an analphabete.1968, Robert Ligon Harrison, Samuel Beckett's Murphy; a critical excursion, page 57
    • They are shadowed by a robed chorus of Beckettian sages--Homer (Joseph Grimm), Hesiod (Gary Kelley), Herodotos (Daniel Parker) and Thucydides (Michael Rivkin)--given to Joseph Campbell-like pronouncements on the power of myth.1994 March 22, Jan Breslauer, “THEATER REVIEW : An Eclectic ‘Oresteia’ Opens Actors’ Gang’s New Home”, in Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC...

Noun

Beckettian (plural Beckettians)

  1. A scholar of Samuel Beckett's writings.

Forms of Beckettian

Adjective
comparativemore Beckettian
superlativemost Beckettian
Noun
pluralBeckettians

Origin of Beckettian

From Beckett + -ian.

Questions about Beckettian

What does Beckettian mean?
Beckettian means of or pertaining to the novelist and playwright Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) or his writings, noted for their bleak outlook and minimalism.
What part of speech is Beckettian?
Beckettian can be an adjective or a noun.

Words near Beckettian in the dictionary

  1. becket hitch
  2. becket hitches
  3. beckets
  4. Beckett
  5. Beckett-Gray code
  6. Beckettian
  7. Beckettians
  8. Beckfoot
  9. Beckford
  10. Beckfordian
  11. Beckfords

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Beckettian (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-Beckettian.oga.

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