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Does "-esque" mean something? For example, grotesque, arabesque, burlesque, picaresque, and picturesque

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  • It seems like all of them came to English through French.
    – Damkerng T.
    Commented Dec 20, 2013 at 17:48
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    This is two completely different questions. It would be better if you asked them separately.
    – Martha
    Commented Dec 20, 2013 at 18:10
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    Meaning of "-esque" is off-topic as dictionary-answerable.
    – Tyler James Young
    Commented Dec 20, 2013 at 18:37

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No Both are different. -esque is a suffix used to form adjectives and it means "resembling" or "like" or "suggesting of"...

Lincoln + esque = Lincolnesque ... like Lincoln

Picture + esque = picturesque ... suitable for a picture

Burla + esque = Burlesque ... parodic, comic, like 'burla'

UPDATE

Burlesque came from an Italian word 'burla' that means jokes, mockery, parody etc. Burlesque is both adjective and noun. Some of these words may only be adjectives and some both.

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  • So why does Kafkaesque retains the <a>?
    – Pacerier
    Commented Jun 21, 2017 at 0:37

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