Micawber

/ mɪˈkɔːbə /

noun

1. a person who idles and trusts to fortune

Derived Forms

• Miˈcawberism, noun
• Miˈcawberish, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Micawber¹

C19: after a character in Charles Dickens' novel David Copperfield (1850)

Example Sentences

As a young, eager-to-please novelist, he had transformed his impecunious father into the whimsical and charming Mr. Micawber of “Copperfield”; after his father’s death came a more selfish and unforgiving version in “Little Dorrit.”

From Los Angeles Times

Could it be that, though we’ve all heard of the great Mr Micawber and Uriah Heep, our understanding of them is formed more by the accumulated memories of performances in TV and cinema?

From The Guardian

Still, she remains a kind of bipartisan Wilkins Micawber, the optimistic clerk in“David Copperfield.”

From New York Times

Mr. Micawber’s formula is simple; reality is more complex.

From The New Yorker

To misquote Mr Micawber: “Something unpleasant will turn up.”

From Economist