Johnsonian

English

Etymology

From Johnson +‎ -ian.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒɒnˈsəʊnɪ.ən/
• Rhymes: -əʊniən

Adjective

Johnsonian (comparative more Johnsonian, superlative most Johnsonian)

1. Of or pertaining to the English writer and lexicographer Samuel Johnson (1709–1784), or characteristic of his style.
   • 1853, Elizabeth Gaskell, chapter 5, in Cranford‎^[1]:

     With my idea of the rector derived from a picture in the dining-parlour, stiff and stately […] —it was strange to read these letters. They were full of eager, passionate ardour; short homely sentences, right fresh from the heart (very different from the grand Latinised, Johnsonian style of the printed sermon preached before some judge at assize time).

   • 1926, Suniti Kumar Chatterji, The Origin and Development of the Bengali Language, page 134:

     Literary Bengali of prose, during the greater part of the 19th century, was thus a doubly artificial language ; and, with its forms belonging to Middle Bengali, and its vocabulary highly Sanskritised, it could only be compared to a ‘ Modern English ’ with a Chaucerian grammar and a super-Johnsonian vocabulary, if such a thing could be conceived.

2. (US politics) Of or pertaining to Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973), American politician and president of the United States from 1963 to 1969.
3. (UK politics) Of or pertaining to Boris Johnson (born 1964), English politician and prime minister of the United Kingdom from 2019 to 2022.
   • 2019 August 29, “The Guardian view on Johnson v parliament: an unelective dictatorship”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     To stop no-deal, MPs must adopt some Johnsonian ruthlessness and be ready to bring down the prime minister and put someone else, probably Jeremy Corbyn, in his place.

Synonyms

• (of or pertaining to Boris Johnson): Borisian

Noun

Johnsonian (plural Johnsonians)

1. An enthusiast of the works of Samuel Johnson.
2. A supporter of Boris Johnson.