Spockian

English

Etymology

Spock +‎ -ian

Adjective

Spockian (comparative more Spockian, superlative most Spockian)

  1. Related to, or characteristic of, Dr. Benjamin Spock and/or his parenting philosophy.
    • 1960, "Now 'Dr. Spock' Goes to the White House, The New York Times, 1960 December 4:
      The Spockian influence on motherhood-at-large is, today, almost legendary.
    • 1988, Nancy Pottishman Weiss, "Mother, the Invention of Necessity: Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care", in Growing Up in America: Children in Historical Perspective (ed. N. Ray Hiner and Joseph M. Hawes), University of Illinois Press (1988), →ISBN:
      The triumph of the Spockian dictum of a privatized child-rearing world, shorn of political concerns, may, in part, explain the vehemence with which Dr. Spock has been attacked for his own peace activities.
    • 1990, Philip Elliot Slater, The Pursuit of Loneliness: American Culture at the Breaking Point, Beacon Press (1990), →ISBN, page 100:
      They seem to be more certain that desire can be gratified than that it can be aroused — a response that probably owes much to Spockian child-rearing. In earlier times a mother responded to her child's needs when they were expressed powerfully enough to distract her from other cares and activities. Spockian mothers, however, often tried to anticipate the child's needs: […]
  2. Related to, or characteristic of, the character Spock from Star Trek, especially in being emotionally detached.
    • 1989, Howard Aiken, "Early Inventors", in Portraits in Silicon (ed. Robert Slater), The MIT Press (1989), →ISBN:
      And you can see from the Spockian ears and the raised eyebrows, he had a positive Mephistophelian look.
    • 1997, Alex Matthews, Satan's Silence: The Second Cassidy McCabe Mystery, Intrigue Press (1997), →ISBN, page 135:
      She bit into tough, stringy meat that had a pungent, wild taste to it. "Interesting," she commented, attempting a Spockian neutrality.
    • 2009, Paul Herr, Primal Management: Unraveling the Secrets of Human Nature to Drive High Performance, AMACOM (2009), →ISBN, page 24:
      Most cognitive psychologists in the mideighties viewed the brain as a computer-like mechanism based on pure logic and rational thought. There was no room for emotions in their Spockian formulation.
    • For more examples of usage of this term, see Citations:Spockian.

Synonyms
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