English Explanatory Dictionary

Micawber

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A person who is poor but eternally optimistic, believing that "something will turn up", like the fictional character Wilkins Micawber in the 1850 Charles Dickens novel David Copperfield.
verb
  1. To be optimistic that "something will turn up", in the style of Wilkins Micawber.
noun
  1. Alternative letter-case form of Micawber; a person of modest income or background who remains optimistic that their situation will improve.

Pronunciation

/mɪˈkɒbər/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Micawber.wav

Word forms

Micawber Micawbers Mr. Micawber Micawbering Micawbered

Etymology

A name likely coined by Charles Dickens, evidently reminiscent of common Irish, Scots, and Scottish Gaelic surnames starting with Mc-, Mac-, both from Old Irish macc (“son, child”) (see more there). For the second particle, compare names like Aubrey; similar surnames like M(a)cAubrey are attested around Dickens' time and thus Micawber may represent a dialectal variation.

Derived words

Micawber effect Micawberesque Micawber frontier Micawberian Micawberish Micawberism Micawber-like Micawberly Micawber principle Micawber threshold
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