McCarthyesque

English

Etymology

From McCarthy +‎ -esque.

Adjective

McCarthyesque (not comparable)

1. Characteristic of McCarthyism or McCarthyists.
   • 2009, W. C. Harris, Queer Externalities: Hazardous Encounters in American Culture, State University of New York Press, →ISBN, page 94:

     The equally absurd concept that there exists anything like a "homosexuality detection expert" conjures the McCarthyesque image of eyes from which no one can hide, […]

   • 2011, Grant Morrison, Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us About Being Human, Spiegel & Grau, →ISBN, page 131:

     On one side were the vile, shape-shifting Skrulls, who wanted to enslave us, prompting McCarthyesque witch hunts and a disbanding of the Avengers.

   • 2011, Barna William Donovan, Conspiracy Films: A Tour of Dark Places in the American Conscious, McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 70:

     Once Shaw returns home, his battlefield exploits are quickly taken advantage of by Iselin, a hard-line McCarthyesque anti-communist crusader.