Word.ws English Dictionary

Havishamesque

Syllables: Ha·vi·sham·esque/ˌhævɪʃəmˈɛsk/

Havishamesque adjective: stuck in the past; also, refusing to accept change or failure.

havishamesque: stuck in the past; also, refusing to accept change or failure
Image: (26 March 1854 – 14 January 1925), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Adjective

Havishamesque (comparative more Havishamesque, superlative most Havishamesque)

  1. Stuck in the past; also, refusing to accept change or failure.
    • Unlike most historic sites, which tend to ossify into Havishamesque stillness, Chesterwood, the turn-of-the-century home of popular academic sculptor Daniel Chester French, welcomes the fresh breezes of life.1987 October, Julie Michaels, Susan Zesiger, “Guaranteed Listings”, in Daniel Okrent, editor, New England Monthly, volume 4, number 10, Haydenville, Mass.: New England Monthly, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 97...
    • Iris went away to boil water or something, and Claire had time to investigate the shabby finery of the room. It was sad if you looked at it one way, almost Havishamesque.1990, Mary Ann Kelly, chapter 11, in Park Lane South, Queens (A Thomas Dunne Book), New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, →ISBN, page 177

Synonyms of Havishamesque

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Forms of Havishamesque

comparativemore Havishamesque
superlativemost Havishamesque
alternative formHavisham-esque

Origin of Havishamesque

From Havisham + -esque (suffix meaning ‘in the style or manner of’ forming adjectives), after the character Miss Havisham from the novel Great Expectations (1860–1861) by the English author Charles Dickens (1812–1870), a wealthy spinster once jilted at the altar, who lives in a ruined mansion and always wears her wedding dress.

Phrases with Havishamesque

Words that rhyme with Havishamesque

8 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about Havishamesque

What does Havishamesque mean?
Havishamesque means stuck in the past; also, refusing to accept change or failure.
What part of speech is Havishamesque?
Havishamesque is an adjective.
How do you pronounce Havishamesque?
Havishamesque is pronounced /ˌhævɪʃəmˈɛsk/ (UK).

Words near Havishamesque in the dictionary

  1. haviour
  2. Havis
  3. Havises
  4. Havisham
  5. Havisham-esque
  6. Havishamesque
  7. havlagah
  8. Havlicek
  9. Havliceks
  10. Havlik
  11. Havliks

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Havishamesque (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-Havishamesque.oga, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Havishamesque.wav.

Cite this entry: “Havishamesque.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/havishamesque. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.