Shelleyan

[ shel-ee-uhn ]

adjective

1. Also Shelli·an. of, relating to, or characteristic of Percy Bysshe Shelley or his works.

noun

1. a student or admirer of the works of Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Shelleyan¹

First recorded in 1840–50; Shelley + -an

Example Sentences

The matchup, Sports Illustrated proclaimed, with a Shelleyan shiver, “feels like a game full of sadness.”

From The New Yorker

The last and longest of Holmes's stories therefore passes from Shelleyan fantasy to Coleridgean horror: a Scandinavian expedition to the north pole by balloon in 1897 turns into a grim re-enactment of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, as ice takes the gallant aeronauts captive and slowly kills them.

From The Guardian

Most of Mary’s novels present the contrast of the Shelleyan and Byronic types.

From Project Gutenberg

The desire, ever unsatisfied, turns all his former joys to ashes, and drives him forth by unheard-of ways through monstrous wildernesses until he pines and dies, or in the strained Shelleyan phrase, ‘Blasted by his disappointment, he descends into an untimely grave.’

From Project Gutenberg

Eventually, the author himself began to long for home and Mother; aided by his native humor, he let go the "Shelleyan fantasy" of the Cork rebellion and settled in Dublin, with Mother, to try his hand at writing.

From Time Magazine Archive