Picaresque describes a type of story that follows a clever but poor character, called a picaro, who gets by on wit and cunning rather than wealth or power. These stories, which became popular in Spain about 500 years ago, follow the hero through a series of adventures as they travel from place to place, often working different jobs, meeting colorful characters, and finding creative ways to survive.

The classic picaresque hero isn't a knight or a prince. They're more like a street-smart survivor who might trick a greedy merchant, outwit a bully, or talk their way out of trouble. Think of Huckleberry Finn floating down the Mississippi River, encountering different people and situations in each town. The story doesn't build toward one big climax but instead strings together episodes and adventures, like beads on a necklace.

What makes a story picaresque is this loose, episodic structure combined with a clever underdog hero who lives by their wits. The adventures might be funny, sad, or both, but they always show us different slices of society through the eyes of someone on the outside looking in. When someone calls a novel picaresque today, they mean it has that rambling, adventurous quality where the journey and the characters matter more than any single destination.