penny dreadful
English
editEtymology
editFrom their low price and the lower-class British use of dreadful (“sensationalized crime reporting”).
Noun
editpenny dreadful (plural penny dreadfuls)
- (originally derogatory, now usually historical) A cheap paperback book, particularly those concerning lurid depictions of crime in the Victorian era.
- (originally derogatory, now usually historical) Pulp fiction: stories written in the lurid style of the penny dreadfuls.
Usage notes
editAlso used attributively as an adjective.
Derived terms
editSee also
editReferences
edit- Oxford English Dictionary, "penny, n.", 2005.
Further reading
edit- penny dreadful on Wikipedia.Wikipedia