English edit

Etymology edit

Beckett +‎ -ian

Pronunciation edit

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Adjective edit

Beckettian (comparative more Beckettian, superlative most Beckettian)

  1. Of or pertaining to the novelist and playwright Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) or his writings, noted for their bleak outlook and minimalism.
    • 1968, Robert Ligon Harrison, Samuel Beckett's Murphy; a critical excursion, page 57:
      The Beckettian progression appears occasionally: while Miss Counihan (static) is an omnivorous reader and Murphy (transitional) a strict non-reader, Cooper is an analphabete.
    • 2008, Sophie Ratcliffe, On Sympathy:
      This uncertainty often appears in Beckettian criticism—take the Scrutonian hesitation over Beckett's 'characters (if characters they can be called)', or John Pilling's admission that, in Beckett, character can become an 'impossibly complicated matter'.

Translations edit

Noun edit

Beckettian (plural Beckettians)

  1. A scholar of Samuel Beckett's writings.