-esque
/ɛsk/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.30 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
suffix
In the style or manner of; appended to nouns, especially proper nouns, and forming adjectives.
suffix
Resembling; appended to nouns, especially proper nouns, and forming adjectives.
Example Sentences
- "Kafkaesque"
- "When the album succeeds, such as on the swaggering, Queen-esque “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us,” it does so on The Darkness’ own terms—that is, as a random ’80s-cliché generator."
- "Needless to say, Mr. T abstained from the "Wolf of Wall Street"-esque extracurriculars on grounds that he didn't agree with Cubik Partners' definition of "fun," per his testimony in court."
- "But amid all the disruption and norm-breaking, it’s Mr. Trump’s apparently keen interest in shaping American culture that may be most intriguing. To critics, it’s nothing less than a sign of his authoritarian bent – reminiscent of the Stalin-esque playbook that made government diktats over artistic expression a feature of the old Soviet Union."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *-iskos Proto-Germanic *-iskaz Proto-West Germanic *-iskbor. Vulgar Latin -iscus Italian -escobor. French -esquebor. English -esque Borrowed from French -esque (“-ish, -ic, -esque”), from Italian -esco, from Latin -iscus, of Germanic origin, from Lombardic -isc (“-ish”), from Proto-West Germanic *-isk, from Proto-Germanic *-iskaz (“-ish”), from Proto-Indo-European *-iskos. Cognate with Old High German -isc (German -isch), Old English -isċ, Old Norse -iskr, Gothic -𐌹𐍃𐌺𐍃 (-isks). Doublet of -ish and -ski.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Inflected Forms
more -esque (comparative)
most -esque (superlative)
-esq' (alternative, rare)