sb. (a.) [f. the surname Johnson + -ESE.] The language or style of Dr. Johnson, or an imitation of it: see next, A.
1843. Macaulay, Ess., Mad. D’Arblay (1887), 766. It is a sort of broken Johnsonese.
1865. Pall Mall Gaz., 5 Aug., 9/2. As the Rector of Marylebone lately expressed it in his extraordinary Johnsonese, ‘that the juvenile branches of our population are greatly dependent on this nutritious diet’ [milk].
1898. L. Stephen, Stud. Biogr., I. ii. 58. Who clothed the utterances of every orator … in sonorous Johnsonese.
B. adj. In the style of Dr. Johnson.
1882. Athenæum, 2 Dec., 729/1. A country clergyman who in 1784 … protested vehemently against the Johnsonese language and the Johnsonian criticism of poetry.
