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

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

Bullying - The Liberal Democrat MP for Cambridge Julian Huppert, a man with donnish levels of detail, complained of being "bullied" in the Commons chamber.

From BBC • Dec. 24, 2013

If he was taken in, his answer was dictated simply by a donnish unwillingness to allow any one to be better informed on any subject than he was himself.

From Erewhon Revisited by Butler, Samuel