Janeite

Origin

Jane + -ite, coined by critic George Saintsbury.

Full definition of Janeite

Noun

1. (usually pejorative) A fan of the author Jane Austen, especially one without a background in literary criticism.
• 2010, Edward Copeland and Juliet McMaster, The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen, Unlike virtually all academic readers of Austen since the 1950s, Janeites in foxholes do not think Austen's novels are about courtship and marriage.
• 2012, Henry Hitchings, Who's Afraid of Jane Austen: How to Talk About Books You Haven't Really Read Chapter How to flummox a Janeite, The 'regulated hatred' angle will work a treat. After all, Janeites don't want to hear about that sort of thing, because it's the opposite of what they adore in their heroine's writing.

Synonyms

• (fan of Jane Austen) Austenite

Derived terms

• Janeiteism