Shakespearean
/ʃeɪkˈspɪəɹi.ən//ʃeɪkˈspɪɹi.ən/
Shakespearean adjective: 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.
Adjective
Shakespearean (comparative more Shakespearean, superlative most Shakespearean)
- 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.
- […]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.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 &...
- 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.1922, G[ilbert] K[eith] Chesterton, “The Hole in the Wall”, in The Man Who Knew Too Much […] , London: Cassell and Company, pages 80–81
- Derivative of Shakespeare's works or authorship.
- Composed of Shakespearean sonnets.
Noun
Shakespearean (plural Shakespeareans)
- A scholar of the works of Shakespeare.
- 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...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
- A person trained to act in Shakespeare's plays.
Proper noun
Shakespearean
- Shakespearean English.
- I have had no one to talk to for ages. There’s Ma, who only talks in Shakespearean. And it took me ages to learn that and I still don’t understand the whole thing.2019, Inaaya Mahek, “Sarkine”, in Cassy & the Bathroom People, Kibworth Beauchamp, Leicestershire: Matador, →ISBN, part 2, page 183
- Honorable Corps Commander, I am one of your seven personal robots at your residence, and I assure you I am the best. […] I can speak Shakespearean, Hoch Deutch, Urdu, and three other dead languages.2023, Malek Nazemi, “In the Eagle’s Nest”, in United Earth 2252, Meadville, Pa.: Fulton Books, →ISBN
Examples of Shakespearean in a sentence
- 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.1973, Gore Vidal, chapter 25, in Burr:
- There was indeed something Shakespearean about both the service in the abbey and the marches that surrounded it.2023 May 7, Michael Billington, “The Coronation review – immaculately rehearsed, touching and Shakespearean”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
- This is the distinctive milieu of Succession, the HBO juggernaut which turned the pitiful exploits of a bunch of media mogul failsons into Shakespearean drama for four critically acclaimed seasons.2025 June 2, Adrian Horton, “Tech-bro satire Mountainhead is an insufferable disappointment”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
- I’m going to fry you so good you’ll start talking in Shakespearean.2024, Katarina E. Tonks, chapter XXXI, in Death Is My Ride or Die (The Death Chronicles; 2), Toronto, Ont.: Wattpad Books, →ISBN:
Forms of Shakespearean
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more Shakespearean |
| superlative | most Shakespearean |
| alternative form | Shakespearian |
| alternative form (archaic) | Shakesperian |
| alternative form (archaic) | Shaksperian |
| Noun | |
| plural | Shakespeareans |
Origin of Shakespearean
From Shakespeare + -ean.
Words formed from Shakespearean
Phrases with Shakespearean
Words that rhyme with Shakespearean
- Illyrian
- valerian
- cimmerian
- Hyperion
- Iberian
- Algerian
- Chaucerian
- eulerian
- Siberian
- Sumerian
- criterion
- Liberian
6 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about Shakespearean
- What does Shakespearean mean?
- Shakespearean means 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.
- How do you use Shakespearean in a sentence?
- 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.
- What part of speech is Shakespearean?
- Shakespearean can be an adjective, a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce Shakespearean?
- Shakespearean is pronounced /ʃeɪkˈspɪəɹi.ən/ (UK).
Words near Shakespearean in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Shakespearean (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Shakespearean.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-Shakespearean.wav.
Cite this entry: “Shakespearean.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/shakespearean. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.