English

Adjective

Holmesish ‎(comparative more Holmesish, superlative most Holmesish)

1. Resembling or characteristic of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.
   • 1964, Books and Bookmen, Volume 10, page 71:

     But can they have accepted Edmund Wilson's verdict that all detective fiction is only Holmesish imitation, and elected to go back to Square One?

   • 1978, John Elkington, "Fuelling the EIA flame", New Scientist, 1 June 1978:

     The environmental dimensions of energy production and consumption are, in fact, rarely out of the news — although one sometimes needs a Holmesish dedication to ferret out the evidence.

   • 1990, Gregory Currie, The Nature of Fiction, Cambridge University Press (1990), ISBN 0521381274, page 140:

     One reply to this is to say that we should count "Holmes might not have been a detective" as true just in case each Holmesish individual has a counterpart that is not a detective.

Synonyms

• Sherlockish, Sherlocky, Sherlock Holmesish, Sherlock Holmesy

See also

• Watsonish