Adjectival

[goingtocalifornia]

....it gave us a central character-who was so vivid, so funny, so flawed, and so weirdly real that he very rapidly became positively adjectival: after this man came into view, so many other people we knew seemed, all of the sudden, “just like Basil Fawlty”.



Positively adjectival- my understanding is “being positively described” but doesn’t the colon indicate “positively taking off” with the example given after the colon?

I hope I don't split hair but could not find any other translation to "adjectival".

[Barb_D]

Postively, in this case, means "absolutely" or "certainly true." It's not postive/negative.

You look positively beautiful! You look really, really nice.
You are positively filthy - into the bath with you, young man!

The author means that Basil Fawlty became an archtype used to describe other people. You can say "Oh, that's so Basil-like" to mean "that was something Basil would have done."

(That show was positively hysterical!)

[goingtocalifornia]

Thanks,

I was wrong as to positively. I got the intention of the author but the word adjectival still remains a bit vague to me. I have no idea how I can use it future.

[Barb_D]

At its simplest, it means "used as an adjective."

Take the word "French."
The French really know how to cook! Here, "French" is a noun.
I love French cooking! Here, "French" is used adjectivally.

For a person to be used adjectivally, he or she must be well-known for a certain trait or behavior. For example, Yogi Berra is known for his quotes that didn't always makes sense. ("Baseball is ninety percent mental. The other half is physical.") If you say something that sounds okay at first and then you realize it didn't make sense, you can say "It was a Yogi moment." You have used Yogi adjectivally.