Jamesian

or James·e·an

[ jeym-zee-uhn ]

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of the novelist Henry James or his writings.
2. of, relating to, or characteristic of William James or his philosophy.

noun

1. a student or follower of Henry James or William James.

Jamesian

/ ˈdʒeɪmzɪən /

adjective

1. relating to or characteristic of Henry James or his brother, William James

Word History and Origins

Origin of Jamesian¹

First recorded in 1870–75; James + -ian

Example Sentences

Osgood’s Colonial-era English is elegantly braided with his crazed enthusiasm for apples, while the sisters’ story is thick with Jamesian dread.

From Los Angeles Times

Lovecraft, Paul Theroux and Stephen King, was so influential that his work has given rise to multiple theories of what constitutes a “Jamesian” ghost story.

From Los Angeles Times

Rosemary Pardoe, founder of the journal Ghosts and Scholars, once compiled a list of various stories composed in the Jamesian manner.

From Washington Post

No crude explanation of the decisions he made can do justice to the multiple loyalties he felt, or the almost Jamesian way he thought about and ultimately resolved them.

From Literature

It’s a flawed book in some ways, but it’s also a social novel that captures a very romanticized period, almost in a Henry Jamesian way, in Greenwich Village.

From New York Times