skaz

S1K5A1Z10

noun

A literary technique wherein characters are mainly identified by the linguistic specificities of their speech.

OriginRussian сказ →
Scrabble 17
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Meanings

nounskaz (uncountable)
  1. uncountableA literary technique wherein characters are mainly identified by the linguistic specificities of their speech.

    She argues that the chief means of indicating the distance between the two levels in grotesque-ironic skaz is 'linguistic discrediting' […]

    2000, Jeremy Hicks, Mikhail Zoshchenko and the poetics of skaz
    1 more example

    […] however, Banfield goes on to posit that first person narrative comes in two shapes, one of which is speakerless while the other corresponds with skaz […]

    1993, Monika Fludernik, The fictions of language and the languages of fiction

Origin

  1. Russianсказ“tale”
  2. Englishskaz

From Russian сказ (skaz, “tale”).

More words from Russian

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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