Proustian

[ proo-stee-uhn ]

adjective

1. of, relating to, or resembling Marcel Proust, his writings, or the middle-class and aristocratic worlds he described.

Proustian

/ ˈpruːstɪən /

adjective

1. of or relating to Marcel Proust, his works, or his style

noun

1. an admirer of Marcel Proust's works

Word History and Origins

Origin of Proustian¹

First recorded in 1925–30; Proust + -ian

Example Sentences

Capote, who died in 1984 shortly before his 60th birthday, spent much of his latter years struggling to write his planned Proustian masterpiece “Answered Prayers,” of which only excerpts were released.

From Seattle Times

Fisher Book Prize, Chin writes with a Proustian flourish about scrumptious foodscapes, and her new book — a valentine to four generations of her Asian American ancestors — plays to her strengths.

From Washington Post

The debate over food safety in Arizona could affect many kinds of foods, but it has focused on tamales because they hold a special, Proustian place in Arizona’s culinary soul.

From New York Times

Reading McCarthy on it was, for me, a Proustian arrow through my pan-fried heart.

From New York Times

Yearning, possessiveness, jealousy, deception, self-torture, the impossibility of truly knowing another person — these turn out to be the unhappy and recurrent elements of Proustian love.

From Washington Post