English

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Etymology

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From harlequin +‎ -esque.

Pronunciation

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  • Audio (UK):(file)

Adjective

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harlequinesque (comparative more harlequinesque, superlative most harlequinesque)

  1. Like or befitting a harlequin; clownish.
    • 1916, Richard Ashley Rice, Robert Louis Stevenson: How to Know Him:
      He was a powerful young fellow, with bewildered hair and beard, wearing his neck open; his blouse was stained with oil-colours in a harlequinesque disorder...
    • 2007 March 11, Matthew Gurewitsch, “Admire the Footwork, but Mind the Hands”, in New York Times[1]:
      Sam Archer is the harlequinesque dancer who was trained in musical theater, while Richard Winsor is the taller, heavier-boned dancer who was trained in ballet.