Meanings
comparative more Rabelaisian · superlative most Rabelaisian · alternative Rabelaisan
- 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 - 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 131 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
- Frenchrabelaisien
- EnglishRabelaisian
Calque of French rabelaisien.
More words from French
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
Rabelaisian. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Rabelaisian
“Rabelaisian.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Rabelaisian. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Rabelaisian,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Rabelaisian.
Source: Rabelaisian on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.