Timonean

comparative more Timonean · superlative most Timonean

1. Of a form of bitter misanthropy related to Timonism, like Timon of Athens.

   And so in love with his Timonean solitude was Rozoko, that it needed many bribes and bland persuasions, to induce him to desert his mossy, hillside, misanthropic cave, for the distracting tumult of a court.

   1849, Herman Melville, Mardi

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   Solitude, on the contrary, not only deprives us of both the past and the future, but always inclines the present hour to joyless melancholy, which sooner or later ends in something intractable, Timonean, (pardon the word) or perhaps more fatal.

   ~1710-1722, John Toland, undated letter

   Such was the account Mr. Hobart gave me of himself, (which made me admire him much, as he was but fifty then) and to convince me his temper had nothing Timonean or unsocial in it from his solitary life, he requested I would dine with him.

   1766, Thomas Amory, The Life of John Buncle, Vol. II

   Synonyms: Timonian, Timonist

comparative more Timonean · superlative most Timonean

1. Pertaining or related to Timon of Phlius, his life, works, style, or ideas.

   Since only a small percentage of Timon's oeuvre has survived and much of Callimachus' work is equally fragmentary there are no direct quotes or precise allusions, but it is possible to discern some features of Callimachus' work that seem remarkably Timonean.

   2009, Dee L. Clayman, Timon of Phlius

   Synonyms: Timonian