Meanings
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1
adj
involving clever rogues or adventurers especially as in a type of fiction
Picaresque novels.
Thesaurus
Word family
Derived forms
picaresquelypicaresquenessunpicaresque
Related forms
picaropicaroon
Etymology
From picaro (“adventurer, rogue”) + -esque (suffix meaning ‘in the style or manner of’ forming adjectives), modelled after Spanish picaresco (“in the style or manner of a picaro; picaresque”), from pícaro (“rogue”) + -esco (suffix forming adjectives indicating a relation). Compare French picaresque (attested later than the English word), Italian picaresco, Portuguese picaresco.