pickwickian

1. not comparableAlternative letter-case form of Pickwickian.

comparative more Pickwickian · superlative most Pickwickian · alternative pickwickian

1. Arbitrary or meaningless (of the usage of a word or phrase).

   But we are prisoners in a Pickwickian sense; if we try we can break out of our frameworks at any time.

   1995, John Hassard, Sociology and Organization Theory, page 80

   2 more examples

   The Chairman felt it his imperative duty to demand of the honourable gentleman, whether he had used the expression which had just escaped him in a common sense. Mr. Blotton had no hesitation in saying that he had not—he had used the word in its Pickwickian sense.

   1836, Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers

   But let us defend the poor battered old language against those who use words in private Pickwickian senses of their own[…]

   1977, Christopher Derrick, Escape from Scepticism: Liberal Education As If Truth Mattered

2. medicineHaving, or relating to, Pickwickian syndrome.

   This pattern of EEG and respiratory changes has been observed during both diurnal and nocturnal sleep in Pickwickian patients.

   1975, Morton F. Reiser, Organic disorders and psychosomatic medicine, volume 4, page 866

3. Of or relating to The Pickwick Papers, its storyline, or its characters (chiefly Samuel Pickwick himself).

   Calverley's test of Pickwickian scholarship has been followed by similar tests with which students of the Holmesian chronicles may put their knowledge of their hero's exploits to the proof.

   1960, George Frederick McCleary, On detective fiction and other things, page 60

plural Pickwickians · alternative pickwickian

1. medicineA person who has Pickwickian syndrome.