Word.ws English Dictionary

McCarthyesque

McCarthyesque adjective: characteristic of McCarthyism or McCarthyists.

Adjective

McCarthyesque (not comparable)

  1. Characteristic of McCarthyism or McCarthyists.
    • The equally absurd concept that there exists anything like a "homosexuality detection expert" conjures the McCarthyesque image of eyes from which no one can hide, […]2009, W. C. Harris, Queer Externalities: Hazardous Encounters in American Culture, State University of New York Press, →ISBN, page 94
    • On one side were the vile, shape-shifting Skrulls, who wanted to enslave us, prompting McCarthyesque witch hunts and a disbanding of the Avengers.2011, Grant Morrison, Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us About Being Human, Spiegel & Grau, →ISBN, page 131

Origin of McCarthyesque

From McCarthy + -esque.

Questions about McCarthyesque

What does McCarthyesque mean?
McCarthyesque means characteristic of McCarthyism or McCarthyists.
What part of speech is McCarthyesque?
McCarthyesque is an adjective.

Words near McCarthyesque in the dictionary

  1. McCartans
  2. McCarter
  3. McCarters
  4. McCarthy
  5. McCarthy's shrew
  6. McCarthyesque
  7. McCarthyism
  8. McCarthyisms
  9. McCarthyist
  10. McCarthyistic
  11. McCarthyists

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: McCarthyesque (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.

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