Definition of Penny dreadful

1. Noun. A melodramatic paperback novel.

Exact synonyms: Dime Novel
Generic synonyms: Novel

Definition of Penny dreadful

1. Noun. (British dated) A cheap pulp novel produced in 19th century Britain. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Penny Dreadful

penny-pinch
penny-pincher
penny-pinching
penny-pinchings
penny-wise
penny-wise and pound-foolish
penny ante
penny ante poker
penny arcade
penny arcades
penny bank
penny chew
penny chews
penny dreadful (current term)
penny dreadfuls
penny for them
penny for your thoughts
penny in the fusebox
penny pincher
penny pinchers
penny stock
penny stocks
penny whistle
penny whistles
penny wise and pound foolish

Literary usage of Penny dreadful

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Adventures in Criticism by Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch (1896)
"T-HE poor little penny dreadful has been "*" *• catching it once more. Once more the British Press has stripped to its massive waist and solemnly squared up ..."

2. Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present: A Dictionary, Historical and by John Stephen Farmer, William Ernest Henley (1902)
"PENNY-DREADFUL (or -AWFUL), subs. phr. (colloquial). ... Daily Telegraph,-¡On. From whatever penny dreadful she had got the chloroform incident 1801. ..."

3. Reminiscences of a Country Journalist by Thomas Frost (1886)
"The return of sunshine—Writing for a periodical—What is » "penny dreadful'"!—Writers for the penny periodicals—Lady novelists—" Bob Lumley's Secret"—Another ..."

4. The Living Age by Making of America Project, Eliakim Littell, Robert S. Littell (1889)
"The penny- dreadful soldier, too, is always a sort of Ram Lai ; he possesses some ... There remains one person of the penny dreadful still to be spoken of, ..."

5. Report of the Proceedings by Church congress (1884)
"In the English penny dreadful these consist chiefly of testimonies to the wonderful virtues of some ointment meant to produce " mustachios in three weeks' ..."

6. Mr. Punch's History of Modern England by Charles Larcom Graves (1922)
"ready to derive its nutriment from the "penny healthful," as from the "penny dreadful," and as a mere matter of commercial enterprise, the former could be ..."

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