puckish

English

WOTD – 26 April 2007

Etymology

Puck + -ish, after the mischievous fairy in English folklore who is also a character in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈpʌkɪʃ/
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Adjective

puckish (comparative more puckish, superlative most puckish)

  1. Mischievous; excessively playful.
    • 2007 April 2, John Cassidy, “The Next Crusade”, in The New Yorker:
      Wolfowitz spoke softly to Yasa, who evidently had no idea who he was but responded with a puckish smile.
    • 2023 October 29, Zoe Williams, “‘An ironic, self-deprecating metrosexual’: how Matthew Perry captured the spirit of the age”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
      “Chandler Bing,” wrote Matthew Perry in his puckish, self-mocking memoir, “changed the way that America spoke”.

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