Empsonian

E1M3P3S1O1N1I1A1N1
UK/ɛmpˈsəʊ.ni.ən/US/ɛmpˈsoʊ.ni.ən/

adjective

Of or pertaining to William Empson (1906–1984), English literary critic and poet.

Scrabble 13
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Meanings

adjectiveEmpsonian (comparative more Empsonian, superlative most Empsonian)

comparative more Empsonian · superlative most Empsonian

  1. Of or pertaining to William Empson (1906–1984), English literary critic and poet.

    It was a memory of a poetry lesson in her training college in Liverpool: an earnest Empsonian young man, not really attractive.

    1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 620

Origin

From Empson + -ian.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with Empsonian

SmithsonianEstonianMacedonianhamiltoniannewtonianCaledoniandraconianOregonianIonianBostonianDevonianamazonianDobsonianJeffersonianWashingtonianJagiellonianparkinsonianjacksonianWilsonianPetroniusPrincetonianPoissonianCatalonianHoustonian
All rhymes →

Anagrams

Pansmione
Cite this entry
APA

Empsonian. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Empsonian

MLA

“Empsonian.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Empsonian. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Empsonian,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Empsonian.

Source: Empsonian on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.