Dictionary

Spockish en · ADJ

Etymology

From Spock + -ish.

Meanings

1. Resembling or characteristic of the Star Trek character Mr. Spock, especially in being excessively logical and emotionless.
   • Rather like the Spockish character Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation, psychology is coming to appreciate the power and virtues of emotions in mental life, as well as their dangers. 2009, Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence, page 41:
   • It is not driven by the fiction of optimization in the manner of Dr.^([sic]) Spock in Star Trek―obsessively using high-tech logic tools. Such a Spockish approach often tends to mis-characterize the nature of the problem when the environment is complex, turbulent and evolving. 2010, Ruth Hubbard, Gilles Paquet, The Case for Decentralized Federalism, page 211:
   • In the early shows, Leonard Nimoy and the various writers and directors struggled to find the Spockish response to emotionally charged situations. 1998, Grace Lee Whitney, Jim Denney, Leonard Nimoy, The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy, page 89:
   • Gary Oldman is pale with pale blue eyes and Spockish ears. 1997, Film review: Special: Issues 18-21:
2. Characteristic of Benjamin Spock (1903–1998), American pediatrician who introduced elements of psychoanalysis into childcare.
   • And the two of us, I already a bit refreshed perhaps by an hour's sleep, Harry longing for a touch of baby skin, would conspire to break the Spockish law and sneak him across the hall to spend some time with us in bed. 2001, Flavia Alaya, Under the Rose: A Confession, page 307:
   • Circumcision of the goyim would not become the pediatric norm in America until the Spockish 1950's. 1994, John Barth, Once Upon a Time: A Floating Opera:

Forms

Synonyms

Spockian (Benjamin Spock) · Spockian (Mr Spock)