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🎭 An English playwright 🕵️ A fictional detective 💻 A programming language
Marlowe

Marlowe

9 7.5
A tough private detective in American crime stories who often seems tired of the world
  • proper noun
  • Literature
: Philip Marlowe
  • As Philip Marlowe used to say, the problem with some lines of work is that nobody
  • Philip Marlowe
  • detective Philip Marlowe

Giralt has much in common with Phillip Marlowe.

Examples

  • Even without the title page, you don't need to be Philip Marlowe to know who wrote it.

    Mank (2020)

  • Like Sam Spade or Phillip Marlowe, right?

    The Animatrix (2003)

  • Why, for example, has Aaron Sorkin never written a Philip Marlowe movie?

    Blog text (12)

  • One with real flavor like Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe.

    A Walk Among the Tombstones (2014)

  • Jake is no Philip Marlowe, smoking a lonely cigarette in a seedy office.

    Blog text (29)

  • We were getting the impression that Marlowe wasn't a born animal-lover.

    Blog text (31)

  • Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe may not have been political, but Dashiell Hammett (creator of Sam Spade) was a committed Marxist-Leninist.

    Blog text (27)

  • "The hardboiled style of writing created by Raymond Chandler is perfectly embodied in his character, Marlowe."

  • "In the classic film adaptations, the character of Marlowe is portrayed by the legendary actor Humphrey Bogart."

  • "Many readers find themselves captivated by the tough demeanor of Marlowe, who navigates the gritty underworld of crime."

Synonyms

Philip Marlowe
vsMarlowe
  • Literature
3 7.7

A tough private detective from Los Angeles created by Raymond Chandler

is seen as an early hardboiled detective hero in American fiction

Surface Forms

Marlowe main

Etymology

Marlowe is an English family name that comes from the old place name parts mere 'lake' and hlaw 'hill', so it originally meant 'hill by a lake'. That's why the name feels solid and old-fashioned, which suits a tough, steady detective.