Dr. Watsonish

• Doctor Watsonish, Dr. Watson-ish, Dr Watsonish

From Dr. Watson +‎ -ish.

Dr. Watsonish (comparative more Dr. Watsonish, superlative most Dr. Watsonish)

1. Resembling or characteristic of the character Dr. Watson from the Sherlock Holmes stories.
   • 1908 May 24, “The Englishman’s Umbrella”, in The New York Times, volume LVII, number 18,383, New York, N.Y., part five, page 5, column 1:

     “How on earth could you tell it was his?” asked a Dr. Watsonish-kind of clerk with as much awe as if he were addressing Sherlock Holmes himself.

   • 1929 June 23, “The Weekly Review—A Page About Books”, in Donald Davidson, editor, The Knoxville Sunday Journal‎^[1], volume 5, number 48, Knoxville, Tenn.:

     To a cottage by the sea come a famous English detective and his very Dr. Watson[-]ish friend.

   • 1942 February 11, Lee Russell, “Sittin’ in the Press Row with Lee Russell”, in The Idaho Daily Statesman, number 173, Boise, Ida., page eleven, column 1:

     Charlie [Robinson] enlightens: […] “In my Dr. Watsonish way, I have rawther deducted that the policy of the Round Table might be summed up thusly: No regular meetings are scheduled, but as activities an occasions demand, the club is called together and I believe past history warrants the conclusion that they have done a better than average job of getting things done. […]”

   • 1945 April 15, Mary-Carter Roberts, “Reviewing The New Books”, in The Sunday Star, number 2,089/36,871, Washington, D.C., pages C—3, column 1:

     One of the most irritating auctorial devices is that of having a story told through the eyes of a character who takes no part in it, who merely looks and listens in a sort of Dr. Watsonish fascination.

   • 1961, Colin Wilson, Adrift in Soho, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Company; Cambridge, Mass.: The Riverside Press, →LCCN, page 39:

     I was flattered that he should consider me worthy of his acquaintance; I felt a certain Doctor Watson-ish admiration for the charm and confidence of his manner.

   • 1961 January 13, Bill Summers, “Becky Uses Charms To Climb, Plot”, in Orlando Evening Star, 85th year, number 9, Orlando, Fla., pages 6—B, column 1:

     Joseph Sedley, a Dr. Watsonish-type character, provided some chuckles.

   • 1966 March 6, Frankie Matthesen, “The Courant Coroner”, in The Hartford Courant, volume CXXIX, number 65, Hartford, Conn., page 15, column 1:

     John Jericho has gained a Dr. Watsonish raconteur in Hugh Pentecost’s “Hide Her From Every Eye;” […]

   • 1973 June 21, Paul Dellinger, “Barter’s ‘The Hostage’ Combines Stage Ploys”, in The Roanoke Times, volume 173, number 172, Roanoke, Va., page 46, column 3:

     Gwyllum Evans, as a kilted Dr. Watsonish commander who sees the warfare through his own fantasies, provides some with his bagpipe entrances and with one of the many great songs of the production.

   • 1979 May 9, Bill Mandel, “The $600 Man”, in San Francisco Examiner, 114th year, number 284, page 23, column 1:

     Robert Conrad’s tough, lady-killing Jim West and Ross Martin’s urbane, Dr. Watsonish Artemus Gordon were James Bond types 100 years before Bond’s era, technocratic super-spies in the Gilded Age of the American West (cheez — I’m starting to sound like Kevin Starr).

   • 1984 August 21, Deborah H. Williams, “Storytime”, in The Evening Press, Binghamton, N.Y., page 1C, column 1:

     In these pages, an astute Sherlock Holmesian character solves all kinds of mysteries with help from a somewhat inept Dr. Watsonish assistant.

   • 1985 August 11, Ken Tucker, “GREASY LAKE By T. Coraghessan Boyle. Viking. $16.95”, in The Philadelphia Inquirer, volume 313, number 42, page 9, column 3:

     The voice of Boyle’s Doctor Watson-ish narrator is deadpan-perfect (“Beersley was known for his composure, his stoicism, his relentless pursuit of the evidence under even the most distracting circumstances”), but the spoofy plot quickly becomes a tedious joke.

   • 1992 February 19, Charles Spencer, “A musical humming with ideas”, in The Daily Telegraph, number 42,504, page 16:

     There’s strong support from Bryan Pringle as an anarchic, gravel-voiced Alfred Doolittle and Michael Medwin as an agreeably Doctor-Watsonish Col Pickering, and the stamping ensemble dance routines during such great numbers as With a Little Bit of Luck and Get Me to the Church on Time exude an infectious exuberance.

   • 2009, Quill & Quire, volume 75, page 32, column 3:

     […] Dr. Watsonish diagnostician Hamish Wakefield makes bull-headed statements but is easily offended, possibly due to being a closeted homosexual; […]

   • 2013 July 24, Pete Naughton, “Why radio trumped TV for royal baby coverage”, in The Daily Telegraph, number 49,192, page 30, column 2:

     Desolation Island, the fifth book in O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin series (Stephen Maturin being the Captain’s phlegmatic, slightly Dr Watson-ish sidekick and confidante), follows Aubrey’s new charge, the HMS Leopard, on a voyage from England to Botany Bay in Australia.

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• Watsonish