donnish

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

During a long, donnish life he also found time to co-write the only dictionary for Krio, the lingua franca of Sierra Leone.

From Economist • Feb. 1, 2018

I think when I meet those arguments I tend to become a bit donnish, perhaps slightly finger-wagging.

From BBC • May 31, 2017

In fact, this biography reads like two books: one an intelligent, even donnish work of criticism that connects the poems to the life, the other a sensationalistic anthology of gossip and subdued malice.

From Washington Post • Oct. 6, 2015

Although some readers found these asides a little donnish, the dispensation of particulars achieved a sensuous flow: you could go swimming in Porter’s omniscience.

From The New Yorker • Apr. 4, 2015

He felt that Jack was not pleased with his puppets; his father had needed no apologies or explanations, Maud had been forward, he himself had been donnish.

From Watersprings by Benson, Arthur Christopher