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

In spite of its timid conservatism and rather donnish society, as Professor Child termed it, it was one of the pleasantest places to live in on this side the Atlantic.

From Cambridge Sketches by Stearns, Frank Preston