Voltairean
UK/vɒlˈtɛə.ɹi.ən/US/vɑlˈtɛ.ɹi.ən/
Voltairean adjective: of or pertaining to François-Marie Arouet (1694-1778; pen name "Voltaire"), French writer, essayist, and philosopher known for his wit and defence of civil liberties.
Adjective
Voltairean (comparative more Voltairean, superlative most Voltairean)
- Of or pertaining to François-Marie Arouet (1694-1778; pen name "Voltaire"), French writer, essayist, and philosopher known for his wit and defence of civil liberties.
- "What do you want? Nineteenth-century rationalism, Voltairian deism? We're living in a religious age, you know. I suppose Anglicanism might be a solution."1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 448
- […] the skinny boy at the next table smirked with a thin Voltairian sneer.1988, Edmund White, chapter 1, in The Beautiful Room is Empty, New York: Vintage International, published 1994
Noun
Voltairean (plural Voltaireans)
- A person who subscribes to the philosophy of Voltaire.
- Then hearing that I was a Darwaysh and doctor—he must be an Osmanli Voltairean, that little Turk—the official snorted a contemptuous snort.1855, Richard Francis Burton, chapter II, in A Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah, volume I, London: Tylston & Edwards, published 1893, page 21
- “[…] But as for saints and relics and things, I fear I'm a bit of a Voltairian; what you would call a skeptic.”1922, G. K. Chesterton, chapter 3, in The Man Who Knew Too Much
Forms of Voltairean
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more Voltairean |
| superlative | most Voltairean |
| alternative form | Voltairian |
| Noun | |
| plural | Voltaireans |
Origin of Voltairean
From Voltaire + -an.
Words formed from Voltairean
Words that rhyme with Voltairean
- Darien
- barbarian
- Aryan
- libertarian
- Arian
- documentarian
- humanitarian
- sabbatarian
- sectarian
- unitarian
- vegetarian
- -arian
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- agrarian
- Bulgarian
- caesarian
- catenarian
- librarian
- lunarian
- Marian
- planetarian
- Ripuarian
- Solarian
- trinitarian
- alphabetarian
- antiauthoritarian
- aquarian
- Bolivarian
- communitarian
- contrarian
- corpuscularian
- denarian
- flexitarian
- futilitarian
- infirmarian
- Kaffrarian
- necessitarian
- nonsectarian
- paraovarian
- parian
- pollotarian
- proprietarian
- quinarian
- sacramentarian
- sanitarian
- semivegetarian
- Tartarean
- Tartarian
- Tocharian
- tricenarian
- valetudinarian
- vestiarian
- acarian
- actiniarian
- actuarian
- aerarian
- alcyonarian
- altitudinarian
- antelapsarian
- antiacarian
- antiegalitarian
Questions about Voltairean
- What does Voltairean mean?
- Voltairean means of or pertaining to François-Marie Arouet (1694-1778; pen name "Voltaire"), French writer, essayist, and philosopher known for his wit and defence of civil liberties.
- What part of speech is Voltairean?
- Voltairean can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce Voltairean?
- Voltairean is pronounced /vɒlˈtɛə.ɹi.ən/ (UK).
Words near Voltairean in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Voltairean (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:
Cite this entry: “Voltairean.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/voltairean. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.