noun
Meaning 1
Any of numerous figures featuring in various mythologies and folk traditions, who use guile and secret knowledge to challenge authority and play tricks and pranks on others with their acts of trickery; any similar figure in literature.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: human-sciences, literature, media, mysticism, mythology, philosophy, publishing, sciences
Examples
- 1991, Alan R. Velie (compiler and editor), American Indian Literature: An Anthology, Revised edition, page 44, The trickster is one of the oldest and most widespread of mythological and literary figures. [...] As the name implies, the trickster is, on one level—probably the most important—an amoral practical joker who wanders about playing pranks on unsuspecting victims [...] With all the fluctuations, certain things about the trickster are predictable: he is always a wanderer, always hungry, and usually oversexed. Tricksters abound in folktales [...] .
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided