Pokémon-esque

Pokémon-esque or Pokémon-esque (comparative more Pokémon-esque, superlative most Pokémon-esque)

Pokémon-esque (canonical)
more Pokémon-esque (comparative)
most Pokémon-esque (superlative)

Haddock’s online project, titled “Screenshots”(whitelead.com/jrh/screenshots), uses the poppy, Pokémon-esque style of kiddie computer games to re-create some of the most incendiary scenes in recent memory (the Columbine killers in the cafeteria, the Rodney King beating, Elián and the feds).

While old-school fans might believe that the whole Armada setting manages to desecrate our fond childhood memories of the original series by changing virtually everything (‘Megatron, a tank? That’s rubbish!’), Transformers turns this negative into a pretty convincing positive thanks to those damn Minicons – the small and almost Pokémon[-]esque robots that seem to be so important to today’s transforming machine.

2004, “Transformers”, in GamesTM, →ISSN, page 084:

Cards, collected around the map, are used to send Pokémon-esque monsters into battle.

2007 June, “Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales”, in Edge, page 92:

Fantastical beasties from authentic Celtic lore serve as Pokémon'''-esque companions on the duo’s intertwining quest, so the monster-wrangling is both addicting and educational here.

2007 December, A. Fitch, “Folklore”, in Electronic Gaming Monthly, number 222, page 110:

Did you know that the world is absolutely teeming with tiny monsters that are invisible to the naked eye? Oh, it’s totally true. Fortunately, a Sony scientist recently discovered that the PSP camera can detect these Pokémon-esque creatures just fine.

2009 September, PlayStation: The Official Magazine, page 48:

Ari played a Pokémon-esque character in our musical performance.

2016, Aaron Feinstein, “We Don’t Want to Fit in: A Reflection on the Revolutionary Inclusive Theater Practices of The Miracle Project and Actionplay for Adolescents on the Autism Spectrum”, in Peter Smagorinsky, editor, Creativity and Community among Autism-Spectrum Youth: Creating Positive Social Updrafts through Play and Performance (Palgrave Studies In Play, Performance, Learning, and Development), Palgrave Macmillan, →ISBN, page 140:

Their take on the way Techodes work reminds of a Pokémon'''-esque feel to a mecha-centered story.

2018, Chris Stuckmann, Anime Impact: The Movies and Shows That Changed the World of Japanese Animation, Mango Publishing, →ISBN:

It was a business success the likes of which Nintendo had never dreamed—not at first, anyway—but it was also something more: a truly Pokémon'''-esque moment, in which Japan the nation evolved into Japan the fantasy superpower.

2020, Matt Alt, Pure Invention: How Japan Made the Modern World, New York, N.Y.: Crown, published 2021, →ISBN, page 226:

In Japan, it had to settle for the silver medal, with the top spot occupied by a Yu-Gi-Oh! game, one that used Pokémon'''-esque tactics to propel its record breaking to boot.

2022, Daniel Dockery, Monster Kids: How Pokémon Taught a Generation to Catch Them All, Running Press, →ISBN:

If you put a million hungry ants in a glass cube with one human, who’s more likely to walk out alive? —Eric Bowman / Everyone always assumes that if you put two animals together like this, they’ll battle to the death, which is a very Pokémon-esque view of biology.

2022, Randall Munroe, What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, Riverhead Books, →ISBN, pages 135–136:

Resembling or characteristic of the Pokémon franchise or the creatures featured in it.


Harry Potteresque

en-adj

Harry Potteresque (comparative more Harry Potteresque, superlative most Harry Potteresque)

more Harry Potteresque (comparative)
most Harry Potteresque (superlative)

Lisa Abend’s new book reads like a Harry Potteresque version of a cook’s story and gives readers the chance to enter the hidden world of cooks.

2011, José Andrés, “Praise for The Sorcerer’s Apprentices”, in Lisa Abend, The Sorcerer’s Apprentices: A Season in the Kitchen at Ferran Adrià’s elBulli, Free Press, →ISBN, back cover:

‘I’ve just got an image of the Morris Minor taking to the sky. It would be rather Harry Potteresque!’

2013, Sarah Tranter, No Such Thing as Immortality, Choc Lit, →ISBN, page 236:

The acres of parkland and the huge volcano thing (it is dormant, isn’t it?) allow for plenty of outdoor romping when the weather holds. And when it doesn't, higgledy old houses and some Harry Potteresque buildings have their attractions, while the city’s gloriously gory history should keep even the most jaded of teenagers switched on to the capital and its delights.

2015, Edinburgh, Time Out Digital Ltd, →ISBN, page 168:

Leaving behind the stained glass and tiled floors, I descended a grand, Harry Potteresque stone staircase and returned to the party in the courtyard downstairs.

2015, Ben Coates, Why the Dutch Are Different: A Journey into the Hidden Heart of the Netherlands, London, Boston, Mass.: Nicholas Brealey Publishing, published 2016, →ISBN, page 126:

He uses Sherlockian deduction mixed with some Harry Potteresque cryptozoological beings to determine Abigail has recently been in Eastern Europe.

2015 December 10, Camilla Mortensen, “Jackaby and Beastly Bones by William Ritter. Algonquin Young Readers, $17.95.”, in Eugene Weekly, volume XXXIV, number 49, page 21, column 2:

Resembling or characteristic of the Harry Potter series.

I took responsibility for hauling up the terracotta mainsail, under the tutelage of a friendly, Harry Potteresque teenager.

2006, Nick Thorpe, Adrift in Caledonia: Boat-hitching for the Unenlightened, Abacus, published 2007, →ISBN, page 229:

From her dark rimmed Harry Potteresque glasses to her well coiffed hair, this is a mother on the go.

2009, Alexandra Becquet, Claire Conilleau, editors, Mutations et adaptations: le XXe siècle, Nouveau Monde, →ISBN:

‘There aren’t any more doors after this,’ the store manager, Julio Sympa, corrected him, wiping his round Harry Potteresque spectacles with a thick cloth handkerchief.

2014, Romain Puértolas, translated by Sam Taylor, The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe, London: Harvill Secker, →ISBN, page 67:

Like his Harry Potteresque Hidden World protagonist Nate Williams—who, after suffering a premature heart attack, finds out he’s a shapeshifter—Ebersol discovered his passion for writing after a debilitating illness at 15 left him wheelchair-bound and unable to attend school.

2014 February, Ray Bendici, Douglas P. Clement, Pat Grandjean, Cathy Ross, Valerie Schroth, Jennifer Swift, “40 Under 40”, in Connecticut Magazine, page 48, column 3:

The kid was adorable with his sweet face and big blue eyes behind vaguely Harry Potteresque glasses.

2015, Suzanne Brockmann, Free Fall, →ISBN:

He pointed to the Harry Potteresque scar over his left eye.

2016, Cat Hogan, They All Fall Down, Poolbeg Press, →ISBN, page 136:

Resembling or characteristic of the fictional character Harry Potter.


Darth Vaderian

Darth Vaderian (comparative more Darth Vaderian, superlative most Darth Vaderian)

more Darth Vaderian (comparative)
most Darth Vaderian (superlative)

(What the heck is this “gun lobby” anyway? Am I it or is it some sort of Darth Vaderian conspiracy that manipulates the minds of innocent legislators?)

1989 February 13, Kevin Harris, “Odd correlation”, in The Bellingham Herald, Bellingham, Wash., page B2, column 5:

Though crowded and dwarfed by Darth Vaderian upstarts such as the Equitable Life Building across from it, the 17-story Candler Building on Peachtree remains alone in its 1904 stylishness.

1990 March 11, Bud Collins, “The changing winds of Atlanta”, in Boston Sunday Globe, volume 237, number 70, page A3, column 3:

Now that the “wall” has become a souvenir to be mounted on a plaque or picture frame and the lien between good guys and the “Evil Empire” with all its Darth Vaderian images is becoming more of a blur, there is evidence that those out there who live to protest something, anything, are getting desperate.

1990 August 12, Tom Barberi, “Barberi!”, in The Salt Lake Tribune, volume 240, number 120, Salt Lake City, Utah, page 2B, column 2:

His [Oliver Stone’s] acceptance speech on September 17 concluded with the following lines: […] How can we possibly win against the overwhelming force of this government of the future, this Darth Vaderian empire?

1995, James Riordan, Stone: The Controversies, Excesses, and Exploits of a Radical Filmmaker, New York, N.Y.: Hyperion, →ISBN, pages 246–247:

They spring up only after you have clicked the right-hand button on your mouse, a secret that is revealed by a message to that effect several seconds after you have been left staring at this Darth Vaderian screen.

1998 September 3, John J. Fried, “Forgetting to back up data? FileSitter automatically does it for you”, in The Philadelphia Inquirer, 170th year, number 95, page F2, column 4:

And therein lies a very troubling reality about the Orwellian — perhaps even Darth Vaderian — measures increasingly employed by marketers of today’s mega-media products.

1999 May 1, Katherine Monk, “Empire of hype”, in The Vancouver Sun, page E1, column 3:

To be sure, there will also be flops aplenty — misguided, mismarketed or simply amiss movies that would have tanked whether Phantom Menace was casting its Darth Vaderian shadow across the land.

1999 May 9, Steven Rea, “Curse of the ‘Phantom’”, in The Philadelphia Inquirer, 170th year, number 343, page F5, column 4:

If even America has difficulties managing the world, none of the four even think about becoming a Darth Vaderian-style world empire.

1999 December 19, Franz Schurmann, “Peace hangs by a thread”, in The Fresno Bee, page G1:

Peter Edmund Haydu assaying triple roles, some of which employ his marvelous Darth Vaderian bass.

2003 April 30, Sandy MacDonald, “‘Man of La Mancha’ is lavish but lacking”, in The Boston Globe, volume 263, number 120, page C3, column 4:

It seems like this is the moment, me covered in ice cream and my own guts, that Sanders is going to confront me with Darth Vaderian news.

2009, Michael Czyzniejewski, Elephants in Our Bedroom, Dzanc Books, →ISBN, page 186:

His heavy breathing fell to a Darth Vaderian murmur.

2017, Scott Kenemore, Zombie-in-Chief: Eater of the Free World, Gollancz, published 2020, →ISBN:

Thus don’t name your band Boozie Tromwellium & the Darth Vaderian Cosmonauts.

2021, Steve Marcone, Dave Philp, Managing Your Band: A Guide to Artist Management, 7th edition, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 104:

Resembling or characteristic of the fictional character Darth Vader.


Hogwarts-esque

Hogwarts-esque (comparative more Hogwarts-esque, superlative most Hogwarts-esque)

more Hogwarts-esque (comparative)
most Hogwarts-esque (superlative)

> Hermione Youlanda Ruby Clinton-Baddeley played Ellen, the Banks' Maid. / Interesting... Though if there were any British actress that our Hermio-ninny was named after, I would like it to be Hermione Gingold (Who once *did* play a Hogwarts-esque witch).

2001 August 13, Dave Hardenbrook, “Is Rowling a Mary Poppins fan?”, in alt.fan.harry-potter (Usenet):

The castle will masquerade as the same location played by Toronto’s Casa Loma — Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, a Hogwarts-esque academy where telepathic Prof. Charles Xavier (Stewart) teaches mutants-in-training to control their superpowers.

2002 May 29, Michael D. Reid, “X-Men to save universe at Royal Roads”, in Times Colonist, 144th year, number 167, Victoria, B.C., page C1, column 3:

Near the campus’ east gate, medieval-looking Healy Hall impresses with its tall, Hogwarts-esque clock tower.

2014, Karla Zimmerman, Pocket Washington DC, Lonely Planet, →ISBN, page 61, column 1:

The sky is definitely brightening and I can even see a patch of watery blue hanging around above a gobsmackingly large building with a huge carved stone doorway and ranks of stone animals tucked up against its Hogwarts-esque roofline.

2017, Tallia Storm, Signed with a Kiss, Scholastic Children’s Boos, →ISBN, page 121:

Resembling or characteristic of Hogwarts.


Middle-earther

"These, Your ineffable Wickedness," said Bilgenest, trying to roll his "R"s properly -- very hard since there weren't any in those words -- "are the humble Middle-earthers who have come in response to your ad about your, uh, grandmother's modest little Ring." Sauron looked at the many assembled creatures.

1988 November 30, Excitement City Unlimited, number 15, page 3:

In “Fellowship,” Frodo, Gandalf and assorted Middle-earthers begin an arduous and dangerous journey through enemy territory to destroy the ring by returning it to the fires where it was forged.

2001 December 20, Duane Dudek, “‘Rings’ echoes today’s clash of good and evil”, in Press Enterprise, page 24, column 2:

Early in the film, a couple of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earthers steal a moment to relax by puffing on pipes.

2001 December 30, Jay Boyar, “Hollywood ends with bang after starting with whimper”, in Orlando Sentinel, page F3, column 1:

All questions were answered when he walked into the main hall and discovered his mother, father and several score elves, dwarves and assorted other Middle-earthers waiting for him.

2003, Tad Williams, “The Happiest Dead Boy in the World”, in Robert Silverberg, editor, Legends II, Voyager, published 2004, →ISBN, page 457:

Middle-earthers expand our sensitivity because they tend to be more aware of sensory stimuli than we. They see better: Malbeth is a professional “Seer” (1025), Faramir enjoys “long sight” (742), and the primitive Woses “have long ears and long eyes” (814).

2009, Steve Walker, The Power of Tolkien's Prose: Middle-earth’s Magical Style, Palgrave Macmillan, →ISBN, page 133:


Superman-esque

Superman-esque (comparative more Superman-esque, superlative most Superman-esque)

more Superman-esque (comparative)
most Superman-esque (superlative)

Wagner stands at a height (more like an altitude) of 6’4" with a Superman-esque stature.

1993 July 29, Joy Catania, “Broadway Star Calls Verona Home”, in Verona-Cedar Grove Times, volume 47, number 30, page 1:

What Arrington did was use a Superman-esque flying leap to soar over and between the left guard and center and stop Illini running back Elmer Hickman for no gain on fourth-and-inches at the Penn State 31-yard line.

1999, Penn State Football 1999 Media Guide, page 86:

Heroism, as I always understood it, was always one masculine, life-saving, Superman-esque act, but my definition had been broadened.

2012, David Hale Sylvester, Traveling at the Speed of Life, →ISBN, page 296:

She had the weirdest urge to reach up and brush back the whorl of Superman-esque hair that had fallen over his brow.

2015, Julie Ann Walker, Hell or High Water, →ISBN, page 298:

It took Superman-esque skill not to let my bare feet touch down on the public restroom tile as I produced flip-flops from my miracle purse and hid away those conservative flats.

2015, Nina Mansfield, Swimming Alone, Fire and Ice, →ISBN, page 9:

Resembling or characteristic of Superman.


Middle-earthian

The animation, in a style somewhere between Arthur Rackham’s and Disney gothic, is handsome enough to have furnished publisher Harry Abrams with a new, coffee-table edition of “The Hobbit,” and the voices of the characters—Orson Bean, John Huston, Richard Boone, Cyril Ritchard and Brother Theodore—are as distinctive as you’d want for this odd assortment of Middle-earthians.

1977 November 25, Alexander Keneas, “‘Rolling Stone’ a musical show to miss”, in Newsday, page 80A, column 2:

Middle-earthians head for Mordor to destroy object in the fires.

1994, Jack Umstatter, Hooked on Literature!: Ready-to-Use Activities & Materials to Spark Students’ Interest in Literature, Grades 9 & Up, Center for Applied Research in Education, →ISBN, page 156:

Those Middle-earthians from the First Age knew enough to recognize that even death wasn’t necessarily going to keep witch-kings and giant flaming eyes from harassing you later.

2022, Smart Pop Explains Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit Movies, Smart Pop, BenBella Books, →ISBN:


Hogwartsy

Hogwartsy (comparative Hogwartsier or more Hogwartsy, superlative Hogwartsiest or most Hogwartsy)

Hogwartsier (comparative)
more Hogwartsy (comparative)
Hogwartsiest (superlative)
most Hogwartsy (superlative)

the train line from Perth to Inverness goes past a string of lochs and a couple of forest parks: Tay and Glencoe. there is a castle in this area - Blair Castle, but it's not very Hogwartsy.

2003 April 4, The Dude, “The lake.”, in alt.fan.harry-potter (Usenet):

Zoe led me up an endless Hogwartsy staircase by the light of her many-candled candlestick, passing glass cases full of china dolls with scratchy faces and toys from the olden days and butterflies pinned to boards, all covered in cobwebs.

2013, C.J. Skuse, Dead Romantic, Frome: The Chicken House, →ISBN, page 64:

Despite the myth that Harry Potter was almost filmed in the Law Quad, Michigan’s Hogwartsiest feature remains the six miles of steam tunnel that run beneath campus.

2013, Matt Pollock, “The top 10 things you didn't do but totally should have done in college”, in The Black Sheep, page 6:

Radcliffe’s take on an extroverted Newark Jew isn’t so un-Hogwartsy that Ginsberg himself ever comes to mind, but that would be distracting, wouldn’t it?

2013 November 22–28, Michael Atkinson, “film*guide”, in OC Weekly, volume 19, number 13, page 33, column 3:

There, around the entire block that encircles the museum (a gothic Hogwartsy thing in the center), streets are closed off and clogged with them.

2014, Wendy Wunder, The Museum of Intangible Things, Razorbill, →ISBN, page 141:

And the campus! Just leaving the foyer made my ears pop and there was no chance I was ever finding my way round this mad maze of staircases, Hogwartsy nooks and crannies and never-ending corridors.

2016, Rachel McIntyre, The #1 Rule for Girls, Electric Monkey, →ISBN, pages 16–17:

Literally nothing feels as Hogwartsy as wearing a gown and walking through Main Court as the wind makes it billow, or cycling in your gown down King’s Parade.

2016, St. Catharine’s College Freshers’ Guide 2016:

CONGRATS TO ALL THOSE GRADUATING! Enjoy that Hogwartsy feeling in those swishy capes.

2016, University of Canterbury Students’ Association Student Diary 2016, page 41:

Beneath that is a hexagon of windows, like the teetering top of an old wizard’s tower: something Hogwartsy, or Rapunzelesque.

2017, Jake Burt, Greetings from Witness Protection!, New York, N.Y.: Feiwel and Friends, →ISBN, page 110:

This little clique is reserved for members who boast skills indistinguishable from those of Dumbledore, but who exist in an otherwise normal non-Hogwartsy world.

2017, Nick Mohammed, The Young Magicians and the Thieves’ Almanac, Puffin Books, →ISBN, page 369:

Sprawling across central Sydney, the unversity^([sic]) has its own zipcode, but the mix of Hogwartsy buildings, high-tech modern buildings, and graffiti tunnel maintain its campus feel.

The festival formerly known as the Harry Potter, now wrested of all official references to butterbeer and such, can’t prohibit its wee faithful from donning their owl glasses and wide-striped scarves. Nor can Warner Bros. wrest the Hogwartsy charm from Belgian-blocked Germantown Avenue and environs.

2018 October 14, Bethany Ao, “7 Days”, in The Philadelphia Inquirer, 190th year, number 136, page H9:

Don’t get me wrong, I love Edinburgh, with its Hogwartsy cobbles and granite grandeur, seeped in history and united by culture, heritage and a too-often-racist hatred of the English.

2019 June 13, Phil Clarke, “Fringe Benefits: All The Best Edinburgh Fringe Previews In London”, in The Handbook, The Handbook UK Ltd, archived from the original on 2020-11-24:

Rupert Baynham: I went to a quite Hogwartsy public school, where everyone seemed to be obsessed with street culture, with films that were gritty and edgy and street.

2021 November, “Rupert Baynham & Bertrand Desrochers about A BRIXTON TALE”, in European Children’s Film Association Journal, page 29, columns 3–4:

You can tell Young Sherlock’s adventures are penned by Harry Potter’s Christopher Columbus, such is the Hogwartsy vibe of its public school setting and imaginative detours into the realm of magic.

2022 April 26, Phil de Semlyen, Matthew Singer, “40 murder-mystery movies to test your sleuthing skills to the max”, in Time Out, archived from the original on 2022-05-04:

Or perhaps snagging a table or a cozy chair around lunchtime and sipping a cup of tea as the sun streams in from the old Hogwartsy glass windows is more your forte.

2022 September 22, Natalie Manley, “Piping Hot Takes: A Review of UChicago’s Student Cafés (and Some Honorable Mentions)”, in The Chicago Maroon, page 30, column 3:

Your character — in my case, Hayden Meiklus, just to make him sound vaguely Hogwartsy — quickly gets put into one of the four houses after donning the Sorting Hat (Ravenclaw for life!), learns some handy magic, meets a bunch of classmates, professors and assorted other folk, and learns about some stuff that here shall remain completely spoiler-free.

2023 March 20, Hayden Meikle, “More meh than magic at this Hogwarts”, in Otago Daily Times, archived from the original on 2023-03-25:


programmable matter

Matter which can change its physics properties in a programmable way.


Doctor Whovian

These Doctor Whovians, as they call themselves, will be particularly earnest in their pleas because the future depends on it. […] Many of the Doctor Whovians are members of a 2-year-old Seattle organization called the Society of the Rusting Tardis.

1987 April 24, Andee Beck, “‘Dr. Who’ fans have hopes of bringing their hero to KTPS”, in The News Tribune, 105th year, number 17, Tacoma, Wash., page D7, columns 1–2:

Doctor Whovians will further get the chance to see a real Tardis (a time-travel vehicle), a mockup of the ship’s control panel, and Bessie, the banana-colored 1953 Ford that belonged to Doctor No. 3 (played by Jon Pertwee).

1987 September 9, Andee Beck, “Dr. Who’s coming to Tacoma: The real McCoy will sign autographs at Bates school”, in The News Tribune, 105th year, number 155, Tacoma, Wash., page D10, column 2:

Why Doctor Whovians Owe It All To H.G. Wells

2012, Jean Asta, Quicklet: An Unofficial Guide: H.G. Wells’s The Time Machine, Hyperink Inc., →ISBN:

To maintain cover, I went to some UFO conventions in America, and Star Trek ones too. That was a blast, because I had been a Trekkie and also a Doctor Whovian.

2014, Don Bambrick, 5 Short Stories, Xlibris, →ISBN:

For Doctor Whovians, the episode downloaded was the final episode of season seven 'The Name of the Doctor'.

2014 August 19, James Vincent, “North Korean internet users download Top Gear, violent video games and American porn”, in The Independent, archived from the original on 2022-07-08:

As I was staring way too hard, I caught sight of faint Jolt grid marks up her right arm and forgot to breathe. Were those for real? Or was she just fangirling, like those Doctor Whovians with their pen-and-ink hash marks?

2016, Jill Williamson, Broken Trust, Novel Teen Press, →ISBN, page 23:

He was a longtime Parrothead, Beatlemaniac, Doctor Whovian and a (Star) Trekker.

2018 February 24–25, “[Obituaries] Jack Carver”, in Elizabethton Star, volume 93, number 40, Elizabethton, Tenn., page 5A, column 2:


Doctor Whovian

Doctor Whovian (comparative more Doctor Whovian, superlative most Doctor Whovian)

more Doctor Whovian (comparative)
most Doctor Whovian (superlative)

[…] it contains all-original short stories by a swarm of the usual Doctor-Whovian suspects: Jonathan Blum, Martin Day, Paul Ebbs, Jim Mortimore, Kate Orman, Justin Richards, Dave Stone and many others.

2004 spring, Interzone, number 193, page 62, column 1:

This is not the sleek white Apple-store vision of the future, but something altogether Doctor Whovian in its sensibilities, as enamored with the past as with the future’s mind-boggling possibilities.

2015 September 16, Amelia Mason, “How A Music Futurist Composes The Future”, in WBUR, archived from the original on 2023-04-16:

In a surreal multimedia performance-lecture, Nina Stuhldreher recounts an artistic research trip which accidentally turned into a Doctor Whovian robinsonade.

2016, “Nootropics and the Last Frontier of (Un)consciousness”, in Bristol Biennial 2016: In Other Worlds, page 24:

Except, that was Moriarty in the bride's frock, and none of this was real, because it was all taking place in one of Sherlock's mind palaces, that Doctor Whovian device whereby Messrs Moffat and Gatiss can do exactly what they want with their lead characters, in this case, tell a head-scratching one-off tale, while they wait for their two stars to pause making blockbusting films long enough to make a whole series.

2016 January 1, Caroline Frost, “'Sherlock: The Abominable Bride' Review Finds Benedict Cumberbatch And Martin Freeman Suffering Time Constraints”, in HuffPost, archived from the original on 2023-04-16:

One part of this is the Doctor Whovian urge to hide behind the sofa, but it’s far more than that.

2017 January, Kieron Gillen, “Life and Darth”, in SFX, number 281, page 60:

The "I" here also could refer to Offa talking about himself in that sort of Doctor Whovian floating between the eighth century and the twentieth century.

2020, Nadia Ali Ismael, “Anachronism in Geoffrey Hill's 'Mercian Hymns'”, in Arab World English Journal for Translation & Literary Studies, volume 5, number 1, published February 2021, →ISSN, page 75:

1990 / Chris Lydgate built a Dalek with his Doctor Whovian kids.

2021 March, Reed Magazine, volume 100, number 1, Portland, Ore.: the Office of Public Affairs at Reed College, →ISSN, page 38, column 1:

Oh, sure Polestar was already Volvo’s racing team and go-faster division before its Doctor Whovian electric regeneration, and Californian dentists had access to a Genesis, but in the UK these are brand-new, um, brands.

2022 August 19, Ollie Kew, “Genesis GV60 vs Polestar 2: EV newbie showdown”, in Top Gear, archived from the original on 2022-08-19:

Controlling the game with blinks is something we have seen done before, particularly with the well-regarded Before Your Eyes on PC, but tying that to some sort of Doctor Whovian monster mechanic in which the creatures can grab you if you blink too much is absolutely the best/worst possible application for this kind of game mechanic.

2022 November 2, Lee Brady, “The Dark Pictures comes to PS VR2 with essentially Doctor Who angels”, in TrueTrophies, TrueGaming Network Ltd, archived from the original on 2022-11-02:

There are any number of Doctor-Whovian plots that could place the two together — failed mutation experiment, secondary mutation (a la Beast from "The X-Men," for example), or even a portal accident (which, in a fun Easter egg, would prove Geralt's well-documented disdain for the magic true).

2022 December 29, Chris Condry, “12 Witcher Stories Netflix Should Tell After Blood Origin”, in Looper, Static Media, archived from the original on 2022-12-30:


Holmesiana

Rights to further discussion of the March additions to published Holmesiana are now released to Vincent Starrett, who plays a considerable role in all three books.

1944 April 2, Charles Collins, “Bookman’s Holiday”, in Chicago Sunday Tribune, volume CIII, number 14, page 16:

Here, the veteran scholar of Holmesiana gives us an imaginative account of Watson’s early life—before the meeting with Holmes.

1985 spring, Jacques Barzun, Wendell Hertig Taylor, “A Catalogue of Crime”, in The Armchair Detective, volume 18, number 2, page 220:

The two Sherlockian special-interest books I would recommend to any casual reader who loves the character are Vincent Starrett’s The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes—a glimpse of the time of its own creation as much as of Holmesiana itself—and James Edward Holroyd’s happy-go-lucky Baker Street By-ways.

2015, Zach Dundas, The Great Detective: The Amazing Rise and Immortal Life of Sherlock Holmes, Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Mariner Books; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, published 2016, →ISBN, page 301:

Memorabilia or writings related to the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.


dragonstone

en-noun

dragonstone (countable and uncountable, plural dragonstones)

(fantasy) A stone or gem having magical powers in relation to dragons.


dragonmaster

(fantasy) One who has the ability to control dragons; someone with mastery over dragons.


dragon whisperer

dragon whisperer (plural dragon whisperers)

(fantasy) One who has the ability to talk to and control dragons.


Potteresque

en-adj

Potteresque (comparative more Potteresque, superlative most Potteresque)

more Potteresque (comparative)
most Potteresque (superlative)

A young teen who reads Rowling’s books, for example, might seek a Potteresque type of excitement by joining the London-based Ordo Anno Mundi (OAM), a sect of occultists who practice Ophidian Witchcraft (i.e., serpent-venerating). Like Hogwarts, which takes its wizards through seven years of training, the OAM has seven degrees of “Magical Training” that include classes strikingly similar to those offered at Hogwarts: […]

2001, Richard Abanes, Harry Potter and the Bible: The Menace behind the Magick, Camp Hill, Pa.: Horizon Books, →ISBN, pages 126–127:

Joanne was delighted at the choice of Daniel as she was with the ten-year-old Emma Watson and eleven-year-old Rupert Grint – a Potteresque name if ever there was one – to play Hermione and Ron.

2001, Sean Smith, J. K. Rowling: A Biography, Michael O’Mara Books Limited, →ISBN, page 178:

Marketing is inherently mysterious, and we forget this at our peril. It is mysterious not only in the sense that we still don’t know how advertising works, why Potteresque fads and crazes occur, or what the marketing philosophy is, exactly.

2005, Stephen Brown, Wizard!: Harry Potter’s Brand Magic (Great Brand Stories), Cyan Books, →ISBN, page 175:

Later in the day (hopefully after a solid night’s sleep, rather than any Potteresque nocturnal adventures) the children will return to the Great Hall of the castle for a Hogwarts-style banquet.

2005 June, Tanya Brown, “UK Report”, in Chronicle, number 260, DNA Publications, Inc., page 30, column 3:

GRYFFINDOR GRUNGE: Joe and Paul’s Potteresque style gets kids listening.

2005 June 6, Rachel Deahl, “Wizards Of Rock”, in Express (a publication of The Washington Post), page 16:

If live-action debutant Andrew Adamson and his team can spin the numbers right, a franchise is born of Potter'''esque proportions that will make the Rings look like a quota quickie.

2006 April, Nick Lowe, “Mutant Popcorn”, in Interzone, number 203, page 68, column 1:

The Grey School of Wizardry website has a number of very Potteresque features, including the ‘Magick Alley’ site from which textbooks and school equipment may be purchased. Although this is a virtual site, it is conceptually similar to Diagon Alley (‘diagonally’) in Harry Potter’s parallel London, where wands and robes, spell ingredients and companion animals (usually owls and cats, but sometimes rats and toads) can be purchased.

2010, Carole M. Cusack, Invented Religions: Imagination, Fiction and Faith, Ashgate Publishing, →ISBN, page 76:

Parents can expect to pay £20,000 for their children to board at the school and former pupils have the marvellously Potteresque name of Old Dragons.

2011, David Nolan, Emma Watson: The Biography, John Blake, →ISBN, page 5:

In his own adventures Buslaev’s world seems less Potteresque; like Volkov before him, Yemets started with an imported fictional world but, having grown confident from working with it, is taking it in a different direction from the one chosen by its original creator.

2011, Aaron Schwabach, Fan Fiction and Copyright: Outsider Works and Intellectual Property Protection, Ashgate Publishing, →ISBN, page 121:

The story was illustrated by Joe Kubert, best known for his work on the DC Comics character Sgt. Rock, and set at a Potteresque school, where instructors with names like Professor Rumbledoore teach army officers about the proper maintenance of magical equipment, including a flying jeep.

2011, Richard Lukas Graham, Government Issue: Comics for the People, 1940s–2000s, New York, N.Y.: Abrams ComicArts, →ISBN, pages 90–91:

Other scenes set at Hogwarts were filmed in the magnificent medieval cloisters, while some of the impressive statues in the abbey’s grand hall have a distinct Potteresque feel.

2011, Great Breaks: Bath, Insight Guides, →ISBN, page 72:

Resembling or characteristic of the Harry Potter series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling.


Sherlock Holmesque

Sherlock Holmesque (comparative more Sherlock Holmesque, superlative most Sherlock Holmesque)

more Sherlock Holmesque (comparative)
most Sherlock Holmesque (superlative)

[…] the interpreter, with Sherlock-Holmesque astuteness, paired this fact with that of the Frenchmen’s presence in the town […]

Half the population of the Silver Belt will turn Sherlock Holmesque. There are already fourteen different theories as to how the villains bored the hole in the wall, and there are dozens on the wing.

1910 September 8, “Concentrates”, in The Cobalt Daily Nugget, volume II, number 191, Cobalt, Ont., page one, column 3:

Frantz held the package at arm’s length and grew Sherlock Holmesque. Policeman gets a clue—asks for reasons—same not satisfactory—Frantz in cell in Center Avenue Station—clock on sergeant’s desk as evidence.

1912 October 14, “Policeman With Keen Ears Deduces an Alarm Clock Is Not Proper Companion”, in The Gazette Times, Pittsburgh, Pa., page 1:

A la Sherlock Holmesque, Authier traced the noise to a paper sack which a youth nearby was carrying under his arm.

1923 August 8, “Alarm Clocks in Bag Let Go; Youth Nabbed”, in The Detroit Free Press, volume 88, number 315, Detroit, Mich., page 7:

“Sure as the Lord made tumbleweeds in Kansas, we — your Sherlock Holmesque readers — are closing in on the elusive Joe Don Looney,” the Morrisseys wrote.

1976 October 29, Dave Kindred, “The continuing Looney saga: Has our hero found peace?”, in The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ken., page C 1, column 2:

He plays Brown, a federal agent who disguises himself as a bumbling Sherlock Holmesque detective.

1988 April 8, Lisa McKinnon, “In search of theater”, in Lompoc Record, volume 114, number 307, page T1:

> Sherlock Holmesque films are pretty cool.

2000 April 28, betnoir, quoting Excession, “[OFF] A new police sitcom..”, in alt.callahans (Usenet):

But that little something happened to put me on the road leading to culinary achievements, and remained imbedded in my mind forever as a Sherlock Holmesque “Case of the Stubborn Duck”.

2003, Frank Stiffel, “When-it-Rains-it-Purrs, Inc.”, in The House of Margie: The Oxymoron Factor 4: A Post-Holocaust Memoir, Xlibris, →ISBN, page 253:

Am I supposed to call you a GENIUS because of your Sherlock Holmesque revelation ?

2007 October 7, CricketLeague, “Hair made the most appaling^([sic]) decision in my entire life - Sir John Anderson”, in rec.sport.cricke (Usenet):

It's sort of a Sherlock Holmesque thing, to try and pin down where a person is from based on their idioms and figures of speech.

2008 December 19, Geoff Miller, “Just One Word (Not Even!)”, in alt.support.childfree (Usenet):

Here, a compendium of well-written Sherlock Holmesque stories, set at our bustling Metro where milieu and characters extol authenticity, is a fine example of where we should commence in this rarely trod sub-genre of fiction.

2017, Maria L.M. Fres-Felix, quoting Joselito D. Delos Reyes, Crimetime: Inspector SJ Tuason Case Files, Anvil Publishing, Inc., →ISBN:

Resembling or characteristic of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.


Harry Potterish

Harry Potterish (comparative more Harry Potterish, superlative most Harry Potterish)

more Harry Potterish (comparative)
most Harry Potterish (superlative)

Last summer interest in U.K. Garage reached Harry Potterish levels in Britain (David’s debut CD alone went six times platinum); […]

2001 April 30, Christopher John Farley, “The Garage Door Opens”, in Time:

‘[…] Oh, you could be something Harry Potterish.’ ‘Or maybe . . . Yes! If I could find the gear, I could go as a character from that book I’ve been reading to them.[…]’

2002, Judith Cutler, Hidden Power, Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN, page 204:

In Not Just a Witch, Heckie has just finished Witches’ School where all the witches learn how to make the world a better place. Sound a bit Harry Potterish? It is, but it came before the J.K. Rowling adventures began.

All this is to say that the night after the dinner party from hell, I had a redemptive, Harry Potterish sort of dream.

2004, Patricia J. Williams, Open House: Of Family, Friends, Food, Piano Lessons and the Search for a Room of My Own, New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN, page 11:

This time, my mind stayed centered in my body, getting off on the scents in the air, the mysterious, mystical copse of Harry Potterish pines in the middle of the hike, and the curious looks on the faces bf the cows.

2004, Jessica Porter, The Hip Chick’s Guide to Macrobiotics: A Philosophy for Achieving a Radiant Mind and Fabulous Body, New York, N.Y.: Avery, →ISBN, page 55:

On the one hand this attention has brought the promise of extra funding - though few at the Universities UK annual conference in the Harry Potterish surroundings of Keble College, Oxford believe that undergraduate fees of up to £3,000 a year from 2006 are the magic wand to solve their problems.

2004 September 15, “Conference call”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 2014-09-16:

He hoped that the rumour about the Canadian school with neckties was true. How bad could that be? It sounded kind of Harry Potterish.

2005, Kathrine K[ristine] Beck, Snitch, Scholastic Children’s Books, →ISBN, pages 87–88:

There is something rather Harry Potterish about them: they can suddenly appear in huge quantities or alternatively disappear. […] Remember that receptors are Harry Potterish, appearing and disappearing.

2005, Vivienne Parry, The Truth About Hormones, London: Atlantic Books, →ISBN, pages 12 and 55:

I had no idea what was going on until I heard one of my roommates ordering my other roommate back into her room to change into something that was more “Harry Potterish.” Somehow, I managed to tear myself away from my Middle East Politics paper to discover the two of them uncontrollably hyper and wearing head-to-toe gold and burgundy. The new Harry Potter movie was opening at midnight, and they had picked up tickets a week in advance.

2005 December 8, Brooke Nevils, “Brining Potter’s lessons to campus”, in The Johns Hopkins University News-Letter, volume CX, number 13, the students of The Johns Hopkins University, page B4, column 1:

A visit to any favourite legal drinking den, El Vino’s, say, in Blackfriars, Daly’s Wine Bar on the Strand, or Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese beside Gough Square, confirms immediately the peculiar Harry Potterish sociality of the Bar – its abiding clubbishness which confirms belonging while also asserting exclusion.

2006, Hywel Williams, Britain’s Power Elites: The Rebirth of a Ruling Class, London: Constable, →ISBN, page 130:

It was where the Glomerels studied Glomery – no, I’m not making this up but it does sound Harry Potterish (or the other way round) – which was a corruption of grammarye or Latin grammar.

2006, Benedict le Vay, Eccentric Cambridge: The Bradt City Guide, Bradt Travel Guides; The Globe Pequot Press, →ISBN, page 116:

“Do not name him. He knows when his name is spoken and seeks out the speaker.” Jack had heard this before. It struck him as Harry Potterish, but he respected the sources and so he abided.

2006, Francis Paul Wilson, Harbingers, New York, N.Y.: Forge, →ISBN, page 81:

I, of course, did not tell Kenneth what I’d done – burning his letter at a wayside shrine – because in some Harry Potterish way he could have made a counter curse to that, too.

2007, Marianne Faithfull, Memories, Dreams & Reflections, London: Fourth Estate, →ISBN, page 53:

I looked up to find an arc of almost-teens around me in Harry Potterish garb. A couple of adults appeared, in robes, pointed hats, and affected accents, beckoning the children to follow closely through this “dangerous” space.

2007 August 9–15, “The war on fun: “Family-friendly” is really a code word for “adult-hostile””, in See Magazine, number 715, page 7, column 3:

Pitch it right to the children, and ‘Taking a walk through a graveyard’ takes on a Harry Potterish aura, and Ireland offers you plenty of chances to do just that.

2008, Terry Marsh, Frommer’s Ireland with your Family: From Vibrant Towns to Picnic Perfect Countryside, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 5, column 1:

I flung out one hand at them. I didn’t have time to think of catchy phrases. No Die Hardish Yippee ki yay motherfuckers or Harry Potterish wand waving Or Bewitched inspired nose twitches.

2009, Leigh Bridger, Soul Catcher, Bell Bridge Books, →ISBN, page 100:

The only thing that keeps me from sheer madness is that Mr. Specter looks like a wizard. He has a severe comb-over of thin, dyed red hair and long yellow teeth. I’d love to leap up, stick my pencil out like a wand and yell something Harry Potterish, like, “Expelliderus!”

2010, Mary Hanlon Stone, Invisible Girl, Philomel Books, →ISBN, page 193:

Buildings date back to 1924 (when they were home to the local senior girls school) consequently there is lots of wood-panelling (slightly Harry Potterish feel to some of it) but, more importantly, lots of dedicated space.

2010, The Good Schools Guide, 15th edition, Lucas Publications, →ISBN, pages 1501–1502:

MapQuest displays it in a place where I’m sure no street exists. The Harry Potterish mystery has a boring resolution; an apartment building called Sheldon Court sits where, presumably, a cul de sac of that name once existed.

2010 September 20, David Guaspari, “Republicans in Ithaca”, in The Weekly Standard, volume 16, number 1, page 19, column 2:

At least one critic has complained that this is a Harry Potterish portrayal of Death, and I must admit that from time to time I found myself wishing this Death had a bit more edge.

2011, Steve Rasnic Tem, “Death and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak”, in Danel Olson, editor, 21st-Century Gothic: Great Gothic Novels since 2000, The Scarecrow Press, Inc., →ISBN, page 45:

As it was the platform number for the Ardrossan train was given as 11A. That sounded a little Harry Potterish to me but there really was such a platform. I have to report that it was far from magical.

2011, Craig Stevenson, John Mackay, The Cheap Way Round, East Kilbride: Cheapwayround Publishers, →ISBN, page 78:

Tegmark’s story sounds a bit like something I read in one of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books. In fact, much of what you’re about to read concerning the multiverse will seem a bit Harry Potterish. You will find it stretching your imagination. A few of the multiverse concepts described in this book are perhaps as fictitious as the Harry Potter series, […] This little apparent loophole in energy conservation provides a strange, Harry Potterish avenue to an understanding of the forces of nature via a theoretical framework known as quantum field theory.

2011, Steven Manly, Visions of the Multiverse, Pompton Plains, N.J.: New Page Books, →ISBN, pages 21–22 and 93:

That bespectacled, Harry Potterish face, frowning earnestly at the assorted jumble of Ben’s computer, stirred the soppiest memories in my breast of the days when my son had himself been just such a pink-cheeked cherub.

2002, Kate Fenton, Picking Up, Flame, →ISBN, page 104:

His dark brown hair was all over the shop, sticking out in tufts, and his spectacles were Harry Potterish.

2003, Jill Mansell, Falling for You, Headline Review, →ISBN, page 80:

I know about projectile vomiting because L—one of my brothers, the Harry Potterish one—had it when he was a baby.

2004, Nicola Morgan, Chicken Friend, Cambridge, Mass.: Candlewick Press, published 2005, →ISBN, page 40:

Tina points to a Harry Potterish lightning bolt on her chin.

2006, Mary Hogan, Susanna Sees Stars, Delacorte Press, published 2007, →ISBN, page 199:

These were round, Harry Potterish, horn-rimmed glasses of zero prescription which increasingly strengthened as you pumped a clear gel solution attached to the frame inside the glass.

2007, Robert D[avid] Kaplan, Hog Pilots, Blue Water Grunts: The American Military in the Air, at Sea, and on the Ground, New York, N.Y.: Random House, →ISBN, page 307:

He was tall, reed-thin in a heavy coat, and absurdly Harry Potterish with round glasses and an owlish gaze.

2009, Noel Hynd, Countdown in Cairo (The Russian Trilogy; 3), Zondervan, →ISBN, page 365:

The core Tangent group would be joined for the next four nights by the visiting crew from Jo’burg: […] Juan the make-up man, surprisingly (and disappointingly, for Guy at least, as he was tall and rather gorgeous in a Harry Potterish way) straight.

2009, Tarras Wilding, Leopard Rock, Little Black Dress, →ISBN, page 115:

He was maybe a fifth- or sixth-grader. Kind of early Harry Potterish. Short and skinny. Glasses. Short, dark hair that cowlicked in the back.

2010, Susan Fletcher, Ancient, Strange, and Lovely (The Dragon Chronicles), Atheneum Books for Young Readers, →ISBN, page 181:

It was him, only more so. The curls were wilder and darker. The glasses were not as Harry Potterish.

2011, Angie Smibert, Memento Nora, Marshall Cavendish, →ISBN, page 28:


Supermannish

Supermannish (comparative more Supermannish, superlative most Supermannish)

more Supermannish (comparative)
most Supermannish (superlative)

This verdict was, in untechnical language, an effective reproof for “Supermannish” methods of financiering.

1908 January 19, ““Superman” in Business”, in New-York Tribune, volume LXVII, number 22,344, New York, N.Y., page 8, column 2:

The only important positive ideas for which he stands are the Supermannish idea of the duty of every man to be himself to the utmost, and a generous democratic idea of freedom, in accordance with which every self-respecting man and woman should be given the opportunity to work out his or her own destiny fully, unhampered by the tyrannies of caste, prestige, sentimental traditions, false codes, and effete moral obligations.

1913, R[olfe] A[rnold] Scott-James, Personality in Literature, London: Martin Secker […]:

The two chief characters are rather “Supermannish,” and that demands super-actors; […]

1913 September 6, “Les Deux Forces. A Play in Four Acts by P.-J. Jouve. […]”, in The Academy and Literature, volume LXXXV, number 2157, London: Publishing Office, […], page 301, column 2:

Search where we will, we find nothing Supermannish in such victories.

1918, William Roscoe Thayer, The Collapse of Superman, Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Company; Cambridge, Mass.: The Riverside Press, page 21:

Bugs, in Supermannish guise, goes forth to battle with a man who hates rabbits, and defeats him.

1943 April 21, The Exhibitor, New York State edition, Philadelphia, Pa., page 1252, column 3:

Though I can see now that the hero of my first novel was too Supermannish, and just went from one success to another until I couldn’t think of any more ‘worlds for him to conquer.’

1949, Erick Berry [pen name; Evangel Allena Champlin Best], Forty-Seven Keys, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, page 121:

With actual clips of front line action interspersed periodically, the staged battle scenes seem even more contrived by comparison and some Supermannish feats unreeled by the Yank soldier-players only heighten the artificiality.

1951 March 26, Barn, “'A Yank in Korea' Mediocre Programmer with Gimmick”, in Film Bulletin, volume 19, number 7, page 10:

Satisfied with him as an actor, Alex believed that with the right make-up, the blond, blue-eyed Redford would look “Supermannish” enough to carry the part off.

1978, David Michael Petrou, The Making of Superman: The Movie, Warner Books, →ISBN, pages 35–36:

When he and his Cincinnati Bengal playmates were done with the AFC’s best defense, that of the New York-New Jersey Jets, he had done Supermannish damage — 30 carries, 139 yards and two TDs — as the Bengals won, 36-19.

1988 October 10, Gary Nuhn, “Bengals put Jets, ghosts of ’87 to rest”, in Dayton Daily News, volume 112, number 31, Dayton, Ohio, page 1-B:

Everything about the Superman story reads like a parable of G.I.s on the move—the special child, the corrupt older (Lost) Lex Luthor, the rocklike manliness and Formica-like blandness, the unvarying success of Supermannish strength used for community good.

1991, William Strauss, Neil Howe, Generations: The History of America’s Future, 1584 to 2069, New York, N.Y.: William Morrow and Company, Inc., →ISBN, page 263:

The Gulf War, the plight of the Kurds, the weekend at Kennebunkport, the Group of Seven conference, the flight to Moscow when the barricades were still in place, the blunt talking to the old men of China on human rights, the veto on sending troops into the Balkan quagmire of Yugoslavia — all combine to provide an image of Major as a political Clark Kent encircling the globe with Supermannish energy.

1991 October 6, Brian Dunning, “When will Major make his move?”, in The Kansas City Star, page J-1, column 2:

The few times Celeste was surprised by a fist or a glandular goon, her Supermannish strength came to her rescue.

1994, Rachel Simon, The Magic Touch, Viking, →ISBN, page 168:

Yet, as the book’s subtitle ‘Enigmas and Guesses’ suggests, Muir’s Supermannish determination is in part very clever bluster.

2000, Robert Crawford, “MacDiarmid in Montrose”, in Alex Davis, Lee M[argaret] Jenkins, editors, Locations of Literary Modernism: Region and Nation in British and American Modernist Poetry, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, part one (Obstinate Isles: The Anglo-Celtic Archipelago), page 36:

“It was going to take a Superman-type effort for us to get a victory,” Miller said. “I was feeling Supermannish.”

2000 April 30, Greg Beacham, “Miller sparks second-half rally”, in Journal and Courier, volume 82, number 121, Lafayette-West Lafayette, Ind., page C1:

Before his turn, George lays aside his glasses with a vaguely Supermannish gesture of resolution and grit.

2003, David Lipsky, Absolutely American: Four Years at West Point, Houghton Mifflin Company, →ISBN, pages 254–255:

Edward Mehok offers a catalogue of prototypical Supermannish feats performed by Christian saints in “St. Clark of Krypton,” in Dooley and Engle, Superman at Fifty!, 123-29.

2009, Sue Taylor, Mark Newport: Superheroes In Action, Cranbrook Art Museum, →ISBN, page 17:

Resembling or characteristic of a Superman or specifically DC Comics’ Superman.


Avatard

This Friday not only has the long-awaited Avatar episode/movie "Secret of the Fire Nation," but also the broadcast premiere of "Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo." Considering TT:TiT will re-air Saturday, people that are both Avatards and Titards won't have to make the Tough Decision. Either way, looks to be a Good Friday!

2006 September 14, Antonio E. Gonzalez, “Friday: Avatar *and* Teen Titans!”, in rec.arts.anime.misc (Usenet):

And for the Avatards out there, some possible spoilers from the panel: […] (boy and girl on the left re-enacting script of Mai and Zuko's first kiss explored only in the Avatar comics, but with the boy=Mai and girl=Zuko just for fun)

2007 December 8, S.t.A.n.L.e.E, “Re: Anime Convention Schedule - December 2007”, in rec.arts.anime.misc (Usenet):

I think I'm finally satisfied with this fic. Let's share it with other Avatards and see what *they* think.

2008 December 18, CD Covington 🐀 (@exaggerated), Twitter, archived from the original on 2023-04-18:

Last month, with the unveiling of the film’s principal cast, the fans’ worst fears were realized, prompting self-proclaimed “Avatards”—chief among them ‘toon titans Yang and Kim—to launch a protest that’s generated torrents of both support and criticism. […] In short, these casting decisions ring false to the show’s spirit; the very spirit that has transfixed millions of young fans and brought legions of Avatards together into a passionate community.

2009 January 29, Jeff Yang, “'Avatar' an Asian thing- why isn't the cast?”, in SFGate, archived from the original on 2012-11-02; quoted in ““Avatar” an Asian Thing—Why Isn’t the Cast?”, in Ken White, Race, the Hollywood Way: Current Trends, Pearson Learning Solutions, 2015, →ISBN, pages 245–246:

The love Avatards have for this minor character is baffling.

2013 September 22, Mitchel Clow, “SeptBender: The best ‘The Legend of Korra’ minor characters (GIFs)”, in Hypable, archived from the original on 2018-01-31:

(fandom slang) A fan of the Avatar: The Last Airbender multimedia franchise.


Hogwartsian

Hogwartsian (comparative more Hogwartsian, superlative most Hogwartsian)

more Hogwartsian (comparative)
most Hogwartsian (superlative)

These days she spends about 20 to 25 hours a week on the site, which features discussion groups as well as stories archived into four houses, a predictably Hogwartsian touch.

2004 June 4, Connie Ogle, “Harry loves Draco? Only in fan fiction”, in The Miami Herald, 101st year, number 264, page 2A:

An intense setting: high ceilings, darkened wood, portraits of glowering white men in muttonchops and morning dress, a clock stopped perpetually at 9:36. All very Hogwartsian.

2005 March 31, Dana Haynes, “No classes teach leadership skills to legislators, teachers”, in Statesman Journal, volume 153, number 2, page 1C:

Faithfully adapted from the first of C.S. Lewis’ seven Narnia books, which introduces the four Pevensie siblings, sent to the country to avoid the London blitz of World War II, this tale of ordinary schoolchildren finding their inner courage to help out a land of talking fauns, foxes, satyrs and dwarfs combines the Middle-Earthian mythology of The Lord of the Rings with the Hogwartsian heroism (and kid malevolence) of the Harry Potter series.

2005 December 9, Steven Rea, “Fantasy fulfilled?”, in The Philadelphia Inquirer, 177th year, number 192, page W22:

The chapel and the Gothic Upper Dining Room, with its high, vaulted ceiling, were positively Hogwartsian.

2006 January, Alex Shoumatoff, “A Private-School Affair”, in Vanity Fair, page 146, column 2:

They give a better feel for the colleges as students talk about whatever makes their school unique: for example, Yale’s Hogwartsian residential college system or Princeton’s notorious eating clubs.

2006 February 25, Rachel Wolf, “Tour a college from your home DVD player”, in The Idaho Statesman, 141st year, 215th issue, section “Life”, page 2:

We’ll play games and do Hogwartsian crafts and other activities guaranteed to please Muggles.

2007 June 22, Kenosha News, Kenosha, Wis., page B1:

We have lunch together in our college’s Hogwartsian dining hall, where we discuss the evils of investment banking.

2008 October 23, David Scripps, “Diary of a Fresher”, in The Independent, number 6,872, section “Education”, page 3:

Russell went last summer and describes it as a Hogwartsian nirvana: four days of music with 12 to 14 major bands, including The Remus Lupins, on the main stage.

2009 July 12, Jackie Burrell, “Wrock and Rowling: Harry Potter-inspired bands are sweeping the country”, in Oakland Tribune, volume 135, number 142, page D4:

Elphaba is shunned by the other students at a Hogwartsian sorcery school called Shiz University, while the prom-queen perky Galinda rules the roost.

2010 September 4, Don Aucoin, “‘Wicked’ tough to beat, as is its star”, in The Boston Globe, volume 278, number 66, page G5:

About the time Asriel decides to take off for the northern polar regions in search of the source of this stuff, the glamorous Mrs. Coulter (blazingly blond Nicole Kidman) arrives on the scene, making a runway entrance into a vast university dining hall that’s so blatantly Hogwartsian, you half expect to see Albus Dumbledore go tottering by.

2011, Kurt Loder, The Good, the Bad and the Godawful: 21st-Century Movie Reviews, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Dunne Books, →ISBN, pages 6–7:

Privilege gives the reader a peek inside the 2,000-acre St. Paul’s campus, with its beautiful grounds and Hogwartsian great hall, its dress codes, its social life, its rituals and rules.

2011 February 17–23, The Hippo, HippoPress, page 45:

The wand was a stunning piece of Hogwartsian work.

2011 July 15, Brent Northup, “Queue ball”, in Independent Record, page 10A:

The large campus of Sydney Uni dominates the suburbs on the city’s western flank. While its Hogwartsian stone walls may suggest primness and properness, that’s quite far from the reality of Sydney student life.

2012, Peter Dragicevich, Pocket Sydney, Lonely Planet, →ISBN, page 12:

Until today Prince had been her favorite refuge, a Hogwartsian womb of vaulted ceilings and dark-wood wainscoting.

2012, Harry Mazer, Peter Lerangis, Somebody, Please Tell Me Who I Am, Scholastic Inc., published 2013, →ISBN, page 88:

The cozy Hogwartsian set piece I discovered inside was perfection. A hundred-year-old shop, complete with stone mantel and wood-burning fireplace, was out of a dream. And books, books, books, old, new, piled high. There was almost a whiff of magic, though nothing sinister, just charmed.

2012, Jill Kargman, The Rock Star in Seat 3A, William Morrow, →ISBN, page 176:

Newell, who directed the fourth Harry Potter film, has given this adaptation a definite Hogwartsian aura: along with flickering gothic lighting and tilted camera angles.

2012 October 6, Robbie Collin, “Where Oscar winners play”, in The Daily Telegraph, number 48,944, page R6:

Grace needed no bribes to get right in on the fun of our ceremony, and immediately adopted a faux-serious British accent to give a Hogwartsian dignity to the proceedings.

2013, Launa Schweizer, Home Away: A Year of Misapprehensions, Transformations, and Rosé at Lunch, →ISBN, page 259:

He displays a refreshingly old-fashioned patience with exposition, slowly developing the characters and unveiling the fantastical milieu so that by the time you end up in a Hogwartsian underworld complete with leatherbound spell books and gothic statuary, you’re having too much fun not to buy in.

2013 February 15, Kerry Lengel, “‘Beautiful Creatures’ a smart goth fantasy”, in The Town Talk, page D1:

There also is tacky stuff that just shouldn’t be there: reproduction fantasy-art in a fake Hogwartsian gallery and dull talking-head videos by film producers, for instance.

2013 May 3, Rosemary Ponnekanti, “Fantasy eye candy at EMP”, in The News Tribune, Tacoma, Wash., page 22:

If you’ve attended First Night events at the Pythian Temple, you’ll have gone through the enormous studded Hogwartsian doors at 924 ½ Broadway.

2014 February 14, Rosemary Ponnekanti, “Knights of Pythias open their house”, in The News Tribune, Tacoma, Wash., page 9:

Come to the Hogwartsian pleasures of Universal’s Islands of Adventure.

The Irish insurgent leader Don Dermutio was placed in the tender care of an inquisitor with the wonderfully Hogwartsian name of William Malefant.

2015, Des Ekin, The Last Armada: Queen Elizabeth, Juan del Águila, and Hugh O’Neill: The Story of the 100-Day Spanish Invasion, New York, N.Y., London: Pegasus Books, published 2016, →ISBN, page 150:

According to McKnight, attendees included “a Turkish exchange student, an Anglican female priest,” and a dishwasher from Merge restaurant who sewed a Hogwartsian cape for himself out of a tablecloth.

2015 February 8, Colin Dabkowski, “Dreamland taps into Buffalo’s creative underground”, in The Buffalo News, page D2:

To openly fantasize about the "fairy tale" (Calloway's word) of studying at a Hogwartsian institution where everyone's accent is pleasant is, as they would say in Cambridge, pretty cringe.

2015 September 2, Lauren Oyler, “Cambridge's Most Controversial Instagram Celebrity Gets the Last Laugh”, in Vice, archived from the original on 2020-11-12:

One overcast morning, a spring tease in the air, I hop the tube to King’s Cross Station, then walk a few hundred yards to the university’s Hogwartsian campus.

2016, Eric Weiner, The Geography of Genius: Lessons from the World’s Most Creative Places, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, →ISBN, page 3:

Join us before the concert at 3pm for a Halloween party featuring sonic sorcery, our beloved costume contest and all other manner of Hogwartsian fun.

2016 October 23, The Courier, volume 158, number 250, page F5:

There’s something delightful about the idea of dressing up for dinner and sitting in assigned seats in the dining hall, like back in the days of yore, or at Hogwarts. […] Instead, I sat with the baseball team, which was about as un-Hogwartsian as it got.

2017, Bill Konigsberg, chapter 6, in Honestly Ben, Arthur A. Levine Books, →ISBN, page 37:

Notwithstanding all the colourful pomp and ceremony, regardless of the yah-boo drama of Prime Minister’s Questions, our Parliament is fundamentally dysfunctional and outdated, a Hogwartsian institution that, most of the time, is toothless to stop the government of the day doing what it likes.

2017, Nick Clegg, How To Stop Brexit (And Make Britain Great Again), London: The Bodley Head, →ISBN, page 89:

Alpha60’s signature store is hidden within the Hogwartsian chapter house of St Paul’s Cathedral, where fresh, casual women’s clothing is displayed on a phalanx of mannequins while giant projections of roosters keep watch.

2017, Kate Morgan, Kate Armstrong, Cristian Bonetto, Peter Dragicevich, Trent Holden, Melbourne & Victoria, 10th edition, Lonely Planet, →ISBN, page 127, column 1:

Tuition is a steep $49,500 per year, on a par with other boarding schools, although you won’t find a Hogwartsian dining hall or stacks of leather-bound books.

2017, Florence Williams, The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative, New York, N.Y., London: W. W. Norton & Company, →ISBN, page 226:

At the Biblioteca Palafoxiana, which UNESCO says may have been the first public library in the Americas, founded in 1646, I lingered under the arched ceilings, wondering how to say “Hogwartsian” in Spanish.

2018 March 18, Christopher Reynolds, “Prides of Puebla”, in Los Angeles Times, page L4:

The night of the ceremony arrived, and I co-hosted an Oscar party in one of Harvard’s Hogwartsian common rooms while nervously anticipating the results.

2019, Ben Zauzmer, Oscarmetrics: The Math Behind the Biggest Night in Hollywood, BearManor Media, →ISBN, page x:

He breaks the bad news with a sweet paternal touch and enrols the orphan in his Hogwartsian school for precocious mutants.

2019 June 7, Matthew Norman, “Let’s hope this phoenix never rises from the ashes”, in Evening Standard, page 28:

The stage itself is sparse, save for a few retracting door frames and Hogwartsian lamps that hang from the ceiling, flickering luminously.

2019 November 24, Tim Balk, “Audience gets into spirit of ‘Carol’”, in Daily News, page 22:

Think X-Men but without the safety of Charles Xavier’s Hogwartsian boarding school.

2019 December 6, Chris Knight, “Powered to the people”, in Montreal Gazette, page C6:

(comparable) Resembling or characteristic of Hogwarts.

> > And now you're killfiled by *me* as well. / > > / > > / Since this *is* a Harry Potter newsgroup, how about making the public plonkings more in line with "Hogwartsian English?" Instead of just a simple "plonk," how about: Anatha Keplonka!

2003 February 17, Patrick Newman, “Next Dark arts teacher”, in alt.fan.harry-potter (Usenet):

Harry is chosen to compete along with a Hogwartsian upperclassman, a French enchantress and a Bulgarian bruiser.

2005 November 25, David DiCerto, “‘Goblet’ full of action, suspense”, in The Catholic News & Herald, volume 15, number 8, page 10:

We discussed all things Hogwartsian with giddy kids in costumes—capes, round black spectacles and lightning-bolt scars drawn on foreheads—until the moment came when we could claim three pre-ordered copies and dash home.

2011 July 18, Ruth Ann Dailey, “To adore the Potter saga is only human”, in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, volume 84, number 352, page A-2:

The Year of Harry Potter at the library starts on Thursday, Sept. 15, at 6:30 p.m., an all age’s book group devoted the^([sic]) discussion of Hogwartsian plotlines.

2016 September 1, Hartford Courant, volume CLXXX, number 245, page 11:

The first thing I did was to spread out the letters from Augusta on our sofa, photograph them and send him a ceremonial video, prim, with a thick British accent. You could imagine the Harry Potter vibes of a first Hogwartsian letter.

2018 April 5, Vandini Sharma, “The Masters through the eyes of a 16-year-old from India”, in Princeton Daily Clarion, volume 171, number 169, page B8:

On Friday, England’s West Midlands Police tweeted a callout to Harry Potter fans: Should they see a notecard covered front-to-back in handwritten Hogwartsian lore, they should alert authorities. The paper is a valuable Harry Potter prequel written and auctioned off by J.K. Rowling that was stolen from its owner during a burglary in Birmingham, England, three weeks ago.

2017 May 12, Maddie Crum, “J.K. Rowling’s Mysterious, Handwritten 'Harry Potter' Prequel Has Been Stolen”, in HuffPost, archived from the original on 2023-04-17:

(not comparable) Of or relating to Hogwarts.


Sherlock Holmesiana

Side by side with the revival of “Sherlock Holmesiana” (if we may be pardoned such a fabrication) comes another story from the industrious pen of Mr. Guy Boothby, dealing with his wondrous figure Doctor Nikola.

1901 November 14, “Books of the Day”, in Liverpool Mercury and Lancashire, Cheshire, and General Advertiser, number 16,813, page 10, column 2:

I hear that Conan Doyle “fans” are frantic to add the Frank fake to their Sherlock Holmesiana.

1929 April 15, “News Notes From Abroad”, in Asbury Park Evening Press, forty-third year, number 89, Asbury Park, N.J., page 10, column 4:

Experts on Sherlock Holmesiana may also find food for thought in the bullet that Dr. John H. [or James] Watson carried in his sturdy body.

1939 October 27, “A Line o’ Type or Two”, in Chicago Daily Tribune, volume XCVIII, number 257, page 12, column 3:

SHERLOCK HOLMESIANA / An Evening in Baker Street

1951 September 2, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, volume 103, number 346, St. Louis, Mo., page 4C:

Eve Titus has written a delightful book, “Basil of Baker Street” (Whittlessey House, McGraw-Hill), with the hope, she states, of attracting new readers to Sherlock Holmesiana.

1959 November 15, “Young Readers Should Enjoy Recent Books”, in The Chickasha Daily Express, 67th year, number 229, Chickasha, Okla., page seven, column 7:

‘Let me show you the original manuscript of “A Scandal in Bohemia,” ’ Alex said, and showed me glass-enclosed display case in lobby containing Sherlock Holmesiana.

1965 February 20, Lillian Ross, “Pitching for Holmes”, in The New Yorker, section “The Talk of the Town”; published in Talk Stories, New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, 1966, →LCCN, page 256:

Mr. French does not make the mistake, which some Wodehouse men do, of treating this branch of literature as if it were Sherlock Holmesiana.

1966 August 27, Douglas Johnson, “The Woosters Decoded”, in The Birmingham Post, number 33,642, page II, column 6:

He has one of the outstanding American collections of Eric Gill, G.K. Chesterton, Stephen Crane, William Faulkner, Francis Thompson, Lafcadio Hearn, Aldous Huxley, Sherlock Holmesiana and T.S. Eliot.

1970 November 12, “John Bennett Shaw to lecture on Sherlock Holmes cult at Stables”, in The Taos News, Taos, N.M., page 8, column 3:

SHERLOCK HOLMESIANA / Anthondy Douglas Howlett, a founding member and former chairman of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, will speak on stage and screen portrayals of the famous sleuth at 7:30 p.m. in the MPC Theatre.

1976 March 4, “Calendar”, in The Carmel Pine Cone, page 19, column 1:

Ed’s hobbies include chamber music (viola) and Bohemian Club orchestra. Also Sherlock Holmesiana (Baker Street Irregulars).

1977 May, Whitworth Ferguson, Oscar Horovitz, “Classes”, in Technology Review, volume 79, number 6, page B6, column 3:

Doctor Ronchese was a Baker Street Irregular and gave his Sherlock Holmesiana material to the Library.

1977 October, Helen DeJong, “Doctor Ronchese”, in Rhode Island Medical Journal, volume 60, number 10, page 501, column 1:

Appendices the list 50 stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, biographies of Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, a selection of literary studies and reference works, and collections of Sherlock Holmesiana.

1986, Allen Eyles, Sherlock Holmes: A Centenary Celebration, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Row, →ISBN:

[…] The Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Centenary by his son Adrian Conan Doyle and a collection of Sherlock Holmesiana; […]

1979 September 22, The Sydney Morning Herald, number 44,235, page 52:

THE insatiable appetite for Sherlock Holmesiana is being delightfully fed by author M. T. Trow who is busy chronicling the adventures and the case[-]book of dear old bumbling Insp. Lestrade.

1986 May 10, PC, “Feckless flatfoot”, in Evening Telegraph, page six:

Exhibits at the festival abound, including children’s author Judy Delton’s manuscripts in Walter Library and a collection of Sherlock Holmesiana.

1988 September 4, Dave Wood, “Pending Festival of the Book promises volumes of activity”, in Star Tribune, volume VII, number 153, page 9F, columns 3–4:

[about the Leepers' r.a.b. FAQ list] […] POSTSCRIPT: This is not intended as a Leepers Bash; I delight in their Sherlock Holmesiana.

1992 February 27, Francis Muir, “rec.arts.books Frequently Asked Questions”, in rec.arts.books (Usenet):

[…] a load of books, Sherlock Holmesiana inc. an album of personal photos of A. Conan Doyle, […]

1993 August 5, The Sacramento Bee, volume 274, page D9:

The author often receives letters announcing the birth of babies named Kinsey, and Holt recently published G is for Grafton, a guide to the fictional universe of Kinsey Millhone as obsessive as any volume of Sherlock Holmes[-]iana.

2000, Jonathan Bing, editor, Writing for Your Life, volume 4, Pushcart Press, →ISBN, page 85:

Kaveney places Buffy academia in the context, not of other series which have acquired an intellectual edge to their cult-status, but of far older phenomena like Sherlock Holmesiana.

2004, Keith Topping, Slayer: The Last Days of Sunnydale, Virgin Books, →ISBN, page 77:

[…] a classical pianist and organist, he was a devotee of Gilbert and Sullivan, a scholar of Sherlock Holmesiana, and a fervent Trumper disciple.

2016, Gideon Haigh, Stroke of Genius: Victor Trumper and the Shot That Changed Cricket, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 251:

The first floor of Mystery, Inc. is American books; the second floor is British and foreign-language books, and Sherlock Holmesiana (an entire rear wall); […]

2016, Joyce Carol Oates, The Doll-Master and Other Tales of Terror, Thorndike, Me.: Center Point Large Print, →ISBN, page 307:


Dr. Watsonish

Dr. Watsonish (comparative more Dr. Watsonish, superlative most Dr. Watsonish)

more Dr. Watsonish (comparative)
most Dr. Watsonish (superlative)

“How on earth could you tell it was his?” asked a Dr. Watsonish-kind of clerk with as much awe as if he were addressing Sherlock Holmes himself.

1908 May 24, “The Englishman’s Umbrella”, in The New York Times, volume LVII, number 18,383, New York, N.Y., part five, page 5, column 1:

To a cottage by the sea come a famous English detective and his very Dr. Watson[-]ish friend.

1929 June 23, “The Weekly Review—A Page About Books”, in Donald Davidson, editor, The Knoxville Sunday Journal, volume 5, number 48, Knoxville, Tenn.:

Charlie [Robinson] enlightens: […] “In my Dr. Watsonish way, I have rawther deducted that the policy of the Round Table might be summed up thusly: No regular meetings are scheduled, but as activities an occasions demand, the club is called together and I believe past history warrants the conclusion that they have done a better than average job of getting things done.[…]”

1942 February 11, Lee Russell, “Sittin’ in the Press Row with Lee Russell”, in The Idaho Daily Statesman, number 173, Boise, Ida., page eleven, column 1:

One of the most irritating auctorial devices is that of having a story told through the eyes of a character who takes no part in it, who merely looks and listens in a sort of Dr. Watsonish fascination.

1945 April 15, Mary-Carter Roberts, “Reviewing The New Books”, in The Sunday Star, number 2,089/36,871, Washington, D.C., pages C—3, column 1:

There was an easy power in Maxwell Knights’ professor, but Reg. Hubbard, as Pickering, tended to be too much a secondary character, a Doctor Watsonish yes-man rather than a character in his own right.

1950 October 18, M.S., “Civic Interest In Theatre Project: Melton’s “Pygmalion” Was A Town Occasion”, in Leicester Evening Mail, page eight:

I was flattered that he should consider me worthy of his acquaintance; I felt a certain Doctor Watson-ish admiration for the charm and confidence of his manner.

1961, Colin Wilson, Adrift in Soho, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Company; Cambridge, Mass.: The Riverside Press, →LCCN, page 39:

Joseph Sedley, a Dr. Watsonish-type character, provided some chuckles.

1961 January 13, Bill Summers, “Becky Uses Charms To Climb, Plot”, in Orlando Evening Star, 85th year, number 9, Orlando, Fla., pages 6—B, column 1:

John Jericho has gained a Dr. Watsonish raconteur in Hugh Pentecost’s “Hide Her From Every Eye;” […]

1966 March 6, Frankie Matthesen, “The Courant Coroner”, in The Hartford Courant, volume CXXIX, number 65, Hartford, Conn., page 15, column 1:

Gwyllum Evans, as a kilted Dr. Watsonish commander who sees the warfare through his own fantasies, provides some with his bagpipe entrances and with one of the many great songs of the production.

1973 June 21, Paul Dellinger, “Barter’s ‘The Hostage’ Combines Stage Ploys”, in The Roanoke Times, volume 173, number 172, Roanoke, Va., page 46, column 3:

We then apprehend our criminals by a process of deduction and elimination in the true Sherlock Holmes’ manner, although if the truth be known most of us, including our policemen, are more Doctor Watsonish, and not clear, incisive Holmes types.

1978 June 18, Brian Roberts, “Farewell to Hawaii”, in Star-Bulletin & Advertiser, page F-3, column 2:

Robert Conrad’s tough, lady-killing Jim West and Ross Martin’s urbane, Dr. Watsonish Artemus Gordon were James Bond types 100 years before Bond’s era, technocratic super-spies in the Gilded Age of the American West (cheez — I’m starting to sound like Kevin Starr).

1979 May 9, Bill Mandel, “The $600 Man”, in San Francisco Examiner, 114th year, number 284, page 23, column 1:

In these pages, an astute Sherlock Holmesian character solves all kinds of mysteries with help from a somewhat inept Dr. Watsonish assistant.

1984 August 21, Deborah H. Williams, “Storytime”, in The Evening Press, Binghamton, N.Y., page 1C, column 1:

The voice of Boyle’s Doctor Watson-ish narrator is deadpan-perfect (“Beersley was known for his composure, his stoicism, his relentless pursuit of the evidence under even the most distracting circumstances”), but the spoofy plot quickly becomes a tedious joke.

1985 August 11, Ken Tucker, “GREASY LAKE By T. Coraghessan Boyle. Viking. $16.95”, in The Philadelphia Inquirer, volume 313, number 42, page 9, column 3:

There’s strong support from Bryan Pringle as an anarchic, gravel-voiced Alfred Doolittle and Michael Medwin as an agreeably Doctor-Watsonish Col Pickering, and the stamping ensemble dance routines during such great numbers as With a Little Bit of Luck and Get Me to the Church on Time exude an infectious exuberance.

1992 February 19, Charles Spencer, “A musical humming with ideas”, in The Daily Telegraph, number 42,504, page 16:

[…] Dr. Watsonish diagnostician Hamish Wakefield makes bull-headed statements but is easily offended, possibly due to being a closeted homosexual; […]

2009, Quill & Quire, volume 75, page 32, column 3:

Desolation Island, the fifth book in O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin series (Stephen Maturin being the Captain’s phlegmatic, slightly Dr Watson-ish sidekick and confidante), follows Aubrey’s new charge, the HMS Leopard, on a voyage from England to Botany Bay in Australia.

2013 July 24, Pete Naughton, “Why radio trumped TV for royal baby coverage”, in The Daily Telegraph, number 49,192, page 30, column 2:

Resembling or characteristic of the character Dr. Watson from the Sherlock Holmes stories.


ma troi

will o' the wisp (in Vietnamese folklore)


ma gia

(Vietnamese folklore) The murderous ghost of an unrecovered drowned person, trying to drown travelers and capsize boats.


ma lai

A type of evil spirit of Vietnamese folklore


star base

(science fiction) Alternative form of starbase


fankind

From fan + -kind, possible punning on mankind.

As most of you are, I'm sure, award, Harry [Broertjes] and his LEGION OUTPOST are well known throughout fankind.

(science fiction fandom slang) Fans collectively.


fanarchistic

fanarchistic (comparative more fanarchistic, superlative most fanarchistic)

more fanarchistic (comparative)
most fanarchistic (superlative)

From fanarchist (“a fan who rejects organized fandom, often as being motivated by anarchist thought”) + -ic.

suf

I am particularly struck with your underlying attitude that all these projects must be sponsored by the NFFF or some similar organization in order to be successful. Now I realise that my own personal fanarchistic attitude may perhaps be coloring my views, but I honestly cannot see the utility of the NFFF in such a connection.

1944, F. T. Laney, Fan-Dango, volume 2, number 3, page 9:

(science fiction fandom slang) Characteristic of a fanarchist; rejecting organized fandom.


Królestwo Niebieskie

Królestwo Niebieskie (nominative singular)
Królestwa Niebieskiego (genitive singular)
Królestwu Niebieskiemu (dative singular)
Królestwo Niebieskie (accusative singular)
Królestwem Niebieskim (instrumental singular)
Królestwie Niebieskim (locative singular)
Królestwo Niebieskie (singular vocative)

(Christianity) Kingdom of Heaven (concept of heaven as a hierarchical dominion with God at the top and a court of saints, archangels, and angels)


fanarchist

During the 1950s Dave was active in the Fanarchist crowd—those largely New York fans who avoided both fannish and mundane politics on the grounds that fanning should be fun.

1975 February, John Boardman, “In Memoriam: David Mason”, in Science Fiction Review, volume 4, number 1, page 13:

(science fiction fandom slang) A fan who rejects organized fandom, often as being motivated by anarchist thought.


Królestwo Boże

Królestwo Boże (nominative singular)
Królestwa Bożego (genitive singular)
Królestwu Bożemu (dative singular)
Królestwo Boże (accusative singular)
Królestwem Bożym (instrumental singular)
Królestwie Bożym (locative singular)
Królestwo Boże (singular vocative)


gyrocab

They were not there waiting for her, after all. She came upon them getting out of a gyrocab just as she emerged from the tubes a on to street level. The gyrocabbie, wide-eyed, gazed after his fares for a moment, then hovered upward and away.

1951, Isaac Asimov, “Hostess”, in Nightfall and Other Stories, Green City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, Inc., published 1969, page 76:


Conan Doylish

en-adj

Conan Doylish (comparative more Conan Doylish, superlative most Conan Doylish)

more Conan Doylish (comparative)
most Conan Doylish (superlative)

The impecunious position of the hero is cleverly sketched in the first pages; but the device that is resorted to by way of extricating him from it is deficient in true humour, even although it smacks of Conan Doylish ingenuity.

1894 May 5, William Wallace, “New Novels”, in The Academy. A Weekly Review of Literature, Science, and Art., volume XLV, number 1148, London: Publishing Office: […], page 368, column 2:

This proved satisfactory to us, but we cannot quite comprehend why Dr. Wood so strenuously objected to our frequently tying down his dip, so it would not run away; or hiding his book bag so as to give him some experience in using his latent Conan Doylish deduction.

1909 May, “A History of the Class of Nineteen Hundred and Nine”, in Pickout 1909: The Year Book of the Lowell Textile School, Lowell, Mass., page 33:

After years of reading of Sherlock Holmes, it was rather expected to see a few Scotland Yard men with double-peaked plaid caps and curved pipe stems. The Scotland Yard men are here, but they are not at all “Conan Doylish.” Instead, they are dressed in correct frock coats and tall hats in strict contrast to the American secret service men, who appear like men just out of a business office or commercial house.

1917 April 24, “Spirit of England Is Brought to U.S. Lobbies and Lounges of Washington Hotels Appear Like Halls of London.”, in The Champaign Daily News, volume XXII, number 229, Champaign, Ill., page twelve, column 3:

The sane dweller in the United States can hardly hope to succeed in the Conan Doylish task of looking at the Encyclopaedia Britannica as a British plot to deprive his mind of independence or to corrupt popular taste by some twenty expensive volumes, at their lightest, too heavy for his pocket.

1917 May, M. B. S., “Reviews: Misinforming a Nation. By W. H. Wright. […]”, in The Smith College Monthly, volume XXIV, number 7, pages 376–377:

Rose Macaulay, author of “Potterism,” “The Dangerous Age,” and “Orphan Island,” in an article in the London Nation and Athenæum, says: “The crude, stilted, Conan Doylish English of his detective stories goes far to bear out the common theory that Mr. Bramah has a literary dual personality.”

1925, The Literary Digest International Book Review, volume III, Funk & Wagnalls Company, page 553, column 1:

Mind, I don’t know or care a rap about spiritualism, though this may sound Conan Doylish.

1928, Godfrey Elton, Against the Sun, London: Constable & Co Ltd, page 52:

Ah, well, I must hear mamma out, — / How, using methods Conan Doylish, / So many doctors have no doubt / It’s Syndrom-e of Alfred Fröhlich.

1961 November 9, Park J. White, “It Ain’t Necessarily Fröhlich’s”, in The New England Journal of Medicine, volume 265, number 19, page 952, column 2:

Much of the plot—Stevensonian and Conan Doylish—is derived and formular: the author herself spoke of “lamentable lacunae . . . due to technical ignorance.”

1979, Ralph E. Hone, Dorothy L. Sayers: A Literary Biography, Kent, Ohio: The Kent State University Press, →ISBN, page 42:

This old-fashioned narrative method (more 1913 than 1936) is immensely seductive in a Conan Doylish sort of way — especially when Condor turns out to have such a tale to tell.

1982, Books and Bookmen, page 37, column 1:

Anthony Burgess’s Enderby triology is now a tetralogy, with a new volume “Composed to placate kind readers of The Clockwork Testament, or Enderby’s End, who objected to my casually killing my hero.” But this is no basely motivated literary opportunism, no Conan Doylish grave-robbery to repossess an obvious winner.

1984 May 5, Keith Wilson, “Burgess raises Clockwork man from the dead”, in The Weekend Citizen, Ottawa, Ont., page 44:

Cheadle tapped Robinson’s last item with his pencil. ‘Spider webs?’ ‘A bit Conan Doylish, that one, sir.’ ‘Meaning you didn’t see any?’

1990, Russell Braddon, Funnelweb, London: Constable, →ISBN, page 127:

In the more Conan Doylish of these studies, literature is regarded as if it were the scene of some recent large-scale crime, littered with clues—fingerprints, bloodstains, dropped wallets, spent bullets—all capable of undergoing forensic examination, and of supporting some Holmesian hunch which might ultimately lead to the apprehension of a culprit, the narration of a real-life story more absorbing than the fictional one which had lightly covered it.

1997, Ian Donaldson, “Politic Picklocks: Reading Jonson Historically”, in Jonson’s Magic Houses: Essays in Interpretation, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN, page 128:

Time for some pseudonyms. Can’t use X and Y – too Conan Doylish.

2002, Norman Lebrecht, The Song of Names, Review, →ISBN, page 13:

A wonderful setup of an opening chapter—Conan Doylish and yet quite stylish and Chabonesque in its own right.

2004 November 21, Alan Cheuse, “Michael Chabon’s deft tribute to novels of detection”, in Chicago Tribune, 158th year, number 326, section 14, page 4, columns 3–4:

“[…] You were born, what, more than 20 years before me and in those days there would have been quite a few people who would have brewed their own real ale. As for the amount you drink, it can’t be too much because you don’t have a beer belly. How is that for a little detective work of my own?” “Well, your reasons are a little, may I say, Conan Doylish. Sherlock Holmes may well have used the same reasoning but, unfortunately those twenty odd years you mentioned so cruelly may have had something to do with the fact that I can no longer tolerate the beer I so loved in my youth, which was of course… real ale![…]”

2020, Charles C Baines, The Grave Deception, →ISBN:

Resembling or characteristic of British writer and physician Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930), who created the character Sherlock Holmes.


Conan Doylean

Conan Doylean (comparative more Conan Doylean, superlative most Conan Doylean)

more Conan Doylean (comparative)
most Conan Doylean (superlative)

Connie, at great length and with great patience, explained the difference between Conan Doylean and Shakespearian heroes.

1935 April 6, Malcolm D. Phillips, “When Friends Fall Out”, in Picturegoer, volume 4, number 202, page 8, column 2:

For a while I smoked away making rings in the air and then attempted a Conan Doylean approach. Necessarily a poor imitator of Sherlock Holmes, I said, ‘If I’m not mistaken, you’re not only rich but rolling in affluence. You make even your shortest trips in a car—you’re not used to going around on foot. You travel by air instead of boarding a train and when passing a night outside home, your place is a five-star hotel, not a railway retiring room. Right?’

1987, Diganta Rāẏa, Untold Stories of Shop-Lifters, New Delhi: National Publishing House, →ISBN, page 43:

Gaston Leroux is an early writer who spurns the Conan Doylean tradition and invents a detective with a doubting Thomas attitude toward material clues.

1990, Gillian Gill, Agatha Christie: The Woman and Her Mysteries, The Free Press, →ISBN, page 39:

Thus, the Granada series became haunted by a ghoul of its own making, striving for the impossible dream of definitive, Conan Doylean episodes that dutifully brought Holmes to life for a later twentieth-century audience.

2011, Neil McCaw, Adapting Detective Fiction: Crime, Englishness and the TV Detectives, Continuum, →ISBN, page 39:

If Jabez Wilson is a Conan Doylean Everyman, Clay sheds some light on how Conan Doyle adapted real criminal history and lore. […] Sherlock—which, as of 2015, consisted of ten episodes released over four years—contains the essence of such Conan Doylean details, remixing them with modern techno-thriller plotting and mesmeric film techniques.

2015, Zach Dundas, The Great Detective: The Amazing Rise and Immortal Life of Sherlock Holmes, Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Mariner Books, published 2016, →ISBN, pages 94 and 249:

The London edition appeared in November 1887—in another Conan Doylean coincidence, only a few days before Sherlock Holmes first appeared in Beeton’s Christmas Annual, which carried the novella A Study in Scarlet.

2017, Stephen Knight, Towards Sherlock Holmes: A Thematic History of Crime Fiction in the 19th Century World, Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., →ISBN, page 161:


Holmesy

Holmesy (comparative more Holmesy, superlative most Holmesy)

more Holmesy (comparative)
most Holmesy (superlative)

There were detectives enough to populate a village. […] “Nothing Holmesy about those dicks,” he observed, sotto voce, to Rainfall. “They wouldn’t know a steamfitter from a country parson by his coat lapel;[…]”

1931, Vincent Starrett, Dead Man Inside, The Crime Club, Inc., page 57:

‘Look, it was the first holiday I’d ever had in my life and I wanted it to be a real holiday, a real rest. I didn’t want to spend it interrogating a girl just on the basis of a Holmesy hunch, did I? I was tired.’

1971, Adrian Mitchell, The Bodyguard, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, Inc., →LCCN, page 53:

According to him, believing that Sherlock Holmes is a detective and believing that Dr Watson is a detective amount to a certain three-place relation obtaining between the subject, the gappy detective proposition, and different ways of believing (cf. Braun 2002, 2005). Whatever it precisely means to believe a proposition in a Holmesy way (as opposed to a Watsony way), this proposal obviously will result in an unexpectedly large number of different ways of believing.

2014, Kathrin Glüer-Pagin, Peter Pagin, “Vulcan Might Have Existed, and Neptune Not: On the Semantics of Empty Names”, in Manuel García-Carpintero, Genoveva Martí, editors, Empty Representations: Reference and Non-Existence, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, part II (Accounts of Empty Representations), page 127:


She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named

Coined as an ironic reference to the nickname "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" used by characters who fear speaking Lord Voldemort's name within Rowling's Harry Potter series.

Depending on who you ask, JK Rowling is either a heroine of free speech or She Who Must Not Be Named.

2021 July 28, Charlotte Runcie, “JK Rowling is more than just a Twitter talking point”, in The Telegraph:

Witchcraft and wizardry have been the subject of fascination for centuries—just look at the success of a certain magical franchise written by She Who Must Not Be Named.

2022, Josie Anne Gaitens, “Witch Hunt”, in Reykjavík Grapevine, number 5, page 30:

I used to worship She Who Must Not Be Named of Harry Potter before she started using her platform to peddle a bunch of harmful garbage.

2022 December 20, Prerana Srikantappa, quoting Robbie Crouch, “Robbie Crouch”, in Vulkan, page 83:

(slang, derogatory) The author J. K. Rowling, when viewed as villainous for her espousal of gender-critical or anti-transgender views.

Harry Potter
J. K. Rowling
Lord Voldemort


Phony Stark

Blend of phony (“fraudulent or fake”) + Tony Stark, referencing the fictional business magnate, inventor, and playboy from the Marvel franchise.

blend

so, yeah, five years on and people on Twitter just kinda endured the Nazis, but now Phony Stark might just tank the whole thing anyway.

2022 November 10, Muhammad (@muhammad@mastodon.social), Mastodon:

Phony Stark seems to want to drive Twitter off a cliff for whatever reason.

2023 February 6, Simon Zerafa (@simonzerafa@infosec.exchange), Mastodon:

I'm not mad at anything Phony Stark does to Twitter. I am mad (or at least dumbfounded) at respectable professionals still using that service, though.

2023 April 5, Leon Cowle (@leoncowle@hachyderm.io), Mastodon:

“As always,” Elon patronised, “please try to stay as close to the truth as possible, even for stuff you don’t like.” Likewise, Phony Stark. Likewise.

2023 October 10, Marina Hyde, “Look at the horror of the Israel-Hamas war, then at Elon Musk’s X site. It’s clear he’s not fit to run it”, in The Guardian:

(derogatory) A nickname for South African-born tech entrepreneur Elon Musk.


helicab

She'd insisted on creeping out of a back exit and we took three different helicabs.

1999, Phyllis Gotlieb, Violent Stars, New York, N.Y.: Tor Books, →ISBN, page 182:

(science fiction) A helicopter used as a taxicab.


groundlubber

So might I ask just what exactly groundlubbers like you are doing in the Roofdom?

2007, China Miéville, Un Lun Dun, London: Macmillan Children's Books, →ISBN, page 86:

(science fiction, derogatory) Someone who does not regularly travel to space.


glassite

One of those cyclopean cylinders could, conceivably, miss the guiding beam and crash half a mile from its expected landing point—through the glassite roof of the immense waiting room perhaps—so that only a thin organic vapor and some powdered phosphates would be left behind to mark the passing of a thousand men.

1953, Isaac Asimov, Second Foundation, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, page 135:

(science fiction) A fictional material, typically described as being transparent like glass.


gravitied

heavily-gravitied

non-gravitied

(in compounds) Having a specified type or strength of gravity.

It was designed to be accessible while in a gravitied environment, thankfully, even if far too many of the other amenities on board this class of ship were dependent on a lack of gravity to easily access.

2016, Jean Johnson, Blockade: First Salik War, New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN, page 95:


hubward

en-adv

hubward (comparative more hubward, superlative most hubward)

more hubward (comparative)
most hubward (superlative)

From hub (“the central part of a wheel”) + -ward.

suf

At 1700 station time, he headed hubward to where Captain Arran Syke, formerly captain of Mother Ramona's private guard, now head of Crossways Militia, had his office.

2017 October, Jacey Bedford, Nimbus: A Psi-Tech Novel, New York: DAW Books, →ISBN, page 55:

(science fiction) Towards the center (of a rotating spaceship or space station).


holocam

He kept up his cheerful demeanor. It wouldn't do for any of the holocams to see him looking irritable, for any recordings of such a response would appear on the news broadcasts.

2009 April 12, Aaron Allston, Outcast, New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 27:

(science fiction) A device capable of capturing three-dimensional images in the form of a hologram.


groundside

Even then she gave them quite a battle. It was like a pair of minnows landing a four-foot bass, but they hauled her down and booted her groundside with a skill that eventually got the two pilots a citation.

1951 November, Paul W[arren] Fairman, “Proud Asteroid”, in Amazing Stories, volume 25, number 11, page 46:

(science fiction) Towards or on the surface of a planet.


groundcar

This had footpaths worn into it alongside the buildings, while its centre had been tiled level with slabs of hard white ceramic to carry the few groundcars here.

2015, Neal Asher, Dark Intelligence, London: Pan Books, →ISBN, page 368:

(science fiction) A car unable to fly (as opposed to a flying car).


gravitics

I scan the Imperial Journal of Physics and the Borshallan Physics Review every day. Nobody's doing comparable work. They're all concerned with gravitics and field dynamics.

2014 October, Don Sakers, Children of the Eighth Day, Linthicum, M.D.: Speed-of-C Productions, →ISBN, page 186:

The fictional science of studying and controlling gravity.

I'll adjust the computer to our assigned radio beam and it can use the gravitics to mimic conventional flight.

1982, Isaac Asimov, Foundation's Edge, London, […]: Grafton Books, →ISBN, page 213:

Devices able to control gravity or gravitational waves, considered collectively.


wishalloy

A hypothetical material that would have certain desirable properties, but is not known to exist.


Darth Vaderish

en-adj

Darth Vaderish (comparative more Darth Vaderish, superlative most Darth Vaderish)

more Darth Vaderish (comparative)
most Darth Vaderish (superlative)

From the Darth Vaderish heavy breathing that opens this show to the whooping and ooga-booga caveman gibberish, whistling chimes, and seductive African percussion, Levine’s score is a trash compacter powered by pure silliness.

1983 May 24, David Edelstein, “Man out to lunch”, in The Boston Phoenix, section three, page 3, column 4:

In our actual practice in daily life and thought, though, we are all fuzzies, even we economists, however glinty and Darth Vaderish we think we are made by mastery of the identification problem and the Kuhn-Tucker conditions.

1985, Donald N. McCloskey, The Rhetoric of Economics, The University of Wisconsin Press, →ISBN, page 51:

I had just opened the rear door when out the corner of my eye I began to get an inkling maybe somebody had figured where Cifelli had an office as a very Darth Vaderish black-windowed sedan slid into view, the windows slowly lowering.

1991, Stan Cutler, The Face on the Cutting Room Floor, Signet, published 1993, →ISBN, page 14:

Resembling or characteristic of Darth Vader.


visiscreen

An image of Abby appeared on visiscreens at the front of the room.

2010, David Gregory, The Last Christian, Waterville, M.E.: Thorndike Press, →ISBN, page 611:

(science fiction) An electronic screen capable of displaying images or data.


visiplate

The glare of a searchlight splashed against his visiplates. Simultaneously, the ship jumped like some toy that had been struck an intolerable blow.

1940, A[lfred] E[lton] van Vogt, Slan, Garden City, N.Y.: Nelson Doubleday, Inc., published 1946, page 101:


viewplate

Then the skeleton flitter moved to the left—out into the glare of the early day, a light too bright, even through the shielded viewplates of his helmet.

1956, Andrew North [pseudonym; Andre Norton], Plague Ship, New York, N.Y.: Gnome Press, page 146:

(science fiction, now rare) An electronic screen capable of displaying images or data.


visiphone

During the late 21st century, the wide-spread use of portable voice-activated interactive computers and visiphones brought communications to their zenith.

2010, Eileen Siedman, The Faithful: 23rd Century Morality: A Mystery Novel, Bloomington, I.N.: Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 25:

(science fiction, dated) A telephone capable of making video calls.


visiphone

en-verb

visiphone (third-person singular simple present visiphones, present participle visiphoning, simple past and past participle visiphoned)

visiphones (present singular third-person)
visiphoning (participle present)
visiphoned (participle past)
visiphoned (past)

"Plum, try viziphoning them." / Plum pushed a key and said, "CQ, this is the starship Shillelagh of the Asteroid Federation, calling CQ."

1987, Thomas R. McDonough, The Architects of Hyperspace, New York, N.Y.: Avon, →ISBN:

(science fiction, dated) To call someone using a visiphone.


transhumanity

From transhuman + -ity or trans- + humanity.

It was a way, Sean, of interrogating our very humanity—and our transhumanity; a way of enquiring what we might change into. That's the only possible true deep reason for colonization.

1980, Ian Watson, The Gardens of Delight, London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, →ISBN, page 163:


ultrawave

There were short intervals between the reports, for ultrawaves, though traveling at the speed of light, still needed some time to span the tremendous distance.

1969, K[arl] H[erbert] Scheer, Walter Ernsting, translated by Wendayne Ackerman, Enterprise Stardust, London: Severn House, published 1977, →ISBN, page 28:

A type of radiation, often described as allowing for faster-than-light communication.

Of course, the radio signals came through on the ultrawave every so often, but the pep-talk description of the thrilling contest for endurance racing didn't mean much when I put it up against the facts.

1975, Lester del Rey, “Habit”, in Early Del Rey, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, Inc., →ISBN, page 41:

A device capable of receiving or producing ultrawaves.