Partridgean

Partridgean adjective: self-important but bathetic; unable to distinguish the meaningful from the trivial and therefore prone to absurdity.

Adjective (1)

Partridgean (comparative more Partridgean, superlative most Partridgean)

(Ireland, UK) Self-important but bathetic; unable to distinguish the meaningful from the trivial and therefore prone to absurdity.
- Speaking of glaring faults, howsabout Rio Ferdinand’s for starters? This, at least, is one properly footballing ‘Hot Topic’ the Partridgean hacks have managed to find room for, though I note it took him cocking up in an England shirt for them to do so.2009 October 14, Richard Kurt, “Fergie frenzy hides the faults”, in Irish Examiner
- Paul Sexton, presenting The Queen of Soul: the Legend of Aretha (Radio 2), had a bouncy introduction that bordered on the Partridgean. Over two nights, he explained, the programmes would explore Franklin's move "from the church to the charts". They would, he added, "say RESPECT to a true original".2011 August 1, Elizabeth Mahoney, “Radio Review: The Queen of Soul: the Legend of Aretha”, in The Guardian

Partridgean (comparative more Partridgean, superlative most Partridgean)

(derogatory) In the manner or style of lexicographer Eric Partridge (1894–1979).
- A Partridgean colorfulness is allowed to creep into the etymologies [...] where severer counsel falls back on "etym. uncertain" or "etym. unknown".1982 March 1, Robert Burchfield, “Opening Words: Review of The Macquarie Dictionary”, in The Age, Melbourne, page 11
- The fourth edition of A Dictionary of South African English [...] is, however, Partridgean in its arbitrary use of fonts, punctuation, and capitalization, in its placement of material, and in its not infrequent self-contradictions.1992, David L. Gold, edited by P. Harteveld, Lexicos II, Stellebosch: Buro van die Wat, page 125

He was less revolted by squatting by the end of the film, but for most viewers the unintentional Partridgean comedy would have been the best reason for watching.2012 December 7, Tom Sutcliffe, “Television review: A Young Doctor's Notebook - Daniel Radcliffe is innocent and Jon Hamm is knowing in...
Forde proved his point across the Bank Holiday weekend, tweeting snaps of such Partridgean gems as Blackburn's clarfication that his son Simon was NOT named after Simon Bates.2013 May 7, Jack Seale, “Tony Blackburn's Alan Partridge-style memoir gains cult status on Twitter”, in Radio Times, archived from the...
And so to the meat of You Have Wives?, whose Partridgean dedication page reads: "Written at the Villa Francia, Lanzarote, Canaries.2013 August 8, Marina Hyde, “Is it Dynasty or the BBC weather centre? It's sometimes hard to tell”, in The Guardian:
Richter (2006: 57) suggests that it is a clipping of the English word po(rnograhpy) to which the suffix -ndy (as in ‘trendy’, ‘handy’, etc.) has been added: a Partridgean etymology at best.2014, James Lambert, edited by Julie Coleman, Global English Slang: Methodologies and Perspectives, London: Routledge, page 133:

From Partridge + -an. From the fictional character Alan Partridge, a self-obsessed radio DJ.

From Partridge + -an. From the lexicographer Eric Partridge.

What does Partridgean mean?: Partridgean means self-important but bathetic; unable to distinguish the meaningful from the trivial and therefore prone to absurdity.
How do you use Partridgean in a sentence?: He was less revolted by squatting by the end of the film, but for most viewers the unintentional Partridgean comedy would have been the best reason for watching.
What part of speech is Partridgean?: Partridgean is an adjective.

Adapted from Wiktionary: Partridgean (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: 2026-09-02

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