apostrophic
1 of 2adjective (1)
ap·os·troph·ic ˌa-pə-ˈsträ-fik 
: of, relating to, or involving the written use of the punctuation mark ʼ to signify contraction, possession, or pluralization
an apostrophic error
A similar apostrophic absence is underway in the names of organisations, where we have Melbourne Writers Festival but Sydney Writers' Festival, Brisbane Magistrates Court but Melbourne Magistrates' Court.
Tiger Webb
Tiger WebbLadies and gentlemen, when we find ourselves in a world where a newsagent's placard can read 'Gleny's Kinnock Lead's Teachers Strike', the Apocalypse is near and something must be done. Apostrophic anarchists, deliberately disrupting the apostrophe's function as part of their wider plan to destroy English grammar, must be weeded out root and branch. Richard Littlejohn
Richard Littlejohnapostrophic
2 of 2adjective (2)
: of, relating to, or involving the use of apostrophe (see apostrophe entry 2) to address a usually absent person or a usually personified thing rhetorically
There are the great apostrophic hymns to the surging surf as metaphor for the passions of the human heart … David Harris
David HarrisThe book is in apostrophic form, written in the voice of a wildly successful, if markedly eccentric artist, Anna Brown, to her partner, the absent John, who has also been the subject of the majority of her paintings over the years. Alex Preston
Alex PrestonIn their ambiguous status as inanimate bodies and as disembodied souls, the dead readily become subjects of apostrophic address. Alan Richardson
Alan Richardson
Word History
Etymology
Adjective (1)
apostrophe entry 1 + -ic entry 1
Adjective (2)
apostrophe entry 2 + -ic entry 1
First Known Use
Adjective (1)
1788, in the meaning defined above
Adjective (2)
1782, in the meaning defined above
- gettering
- getterings
- getters
- getting
- getting (away)
- getting a kick out of
- getting a load of
- getting a move on
- getting about
- getting acquainted
- getting across
- getting after
- getting ahead
- getting along
- getting around
- getting around (to)
- getting around to
- getting at
- getting away
- getting back
- getting back (at)
- getting back at
- getting behind
- getting by
- getting cracking