Rabelaisian

R1A1B3E1L1A1I1S1I1A1N1

adjective

Pertaining to the works or period of Rabelais.

Scrabble 13

Meanings

adjectiveRabelaisian (comparative more Rabelaisian, superlative most Rabelaisian)

comparative more Rabelaisian · superlative most Rabelaisian · alternative Rabelaisan

  1. Pertaining to the works or period of Rabelais.

    In Italy, as in Rabelaisian France, the carnival entered not only elite theatrical performance and engravings but also the printed word.

    2006, Todd P. Olson, “The Street Has Its Masters: Caravaggio and the Socially Maerginal”, in Genevieve Warwick, editor, Caravaggio: Realism, Rebellion, Reception, page 72
  2. Possessing a style of satirical humour characterized by exaggerated or grotesque characters and coarse jokes.

    The smiths themselves were a grand lot of fellows, full of a robust, and sometimes Rabelaisian sense of humour, and between "heats," they could be most entertaining.

    1945 January and February, A Former Pupil, “Some Memories of Crewe Works—III”, in Railway Magazine, page 13
    1 more example

    For although of unexceptionable morality, and addressed virginibus puerisque, the stories and illustrations with which this and others of these collections abound are frequently of a very Rabelaisian character.

    1889, William George Aston, A History of Japanese Literature, Book VI, chapter VII, page 343

Origin

  1. Frenchrabelaisien
  2. EnglishRabelaisian

Calque of French rabelaisien.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

French rabelaisien
  • rabelaisienpertaining to the works or period of Rabelais
German rabelaisisch
  • rabelaisischpertaining to the works or period of Rabelais
Italian rabelesiano
  • rabelesianopertaining to the works or period of Rabelais
Russian раблезиа́нский
  • раблезиа́нский (rableziánskij)pertaining to the works or period of Rabelais
Cite this entry
APA

Rabelaisian. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Rabelaisian

MLA

“Rabelaisian.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Rabelaisian. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Rabelaisian,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Rabelaisian.

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