bookish
/ˈbʊkɪʃ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.57 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Fond of reading or studying, especially said of someone lacking social skills as a result.
adj
Characterized by a method of expression generally found in books.
Example Sentences
- "From a child I was fond of reading, and all the little money that came into my hands was ever laid out in books. […] This bookish inclination at length determined my father to make me a printer, though he had already one son (James) of that profession."
- "A Google search reveals Gendrot has no great internet or social media footprint, but in any case, he says, the police recruiters did not delve into his background. He did change his round spectacles to look less “bookish”."
- "Besides, all my New York friends were in the negative, nightmare position of putting down society and giving their tired bookish or political or psychoanalytical reasons, […]"
- "Obviously, neither Corneille nor the characters who laugh at excessively bookish speech avoid literary convention."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂ǵosder.? Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂g-der.? Proto-Germanic *bōks Proto-West Germanic *bōk Old English bōc Middle English bok English book Proto-Indo-European *-iskos Proto-Germanic *-iskaz Proto-West Germanic *-isk Old English -isċ Middle English -isch English -ish English bookish From book + -ish.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈbʊkɪʃ/
- British English: /ˈbʊkɪʃ/
Inflected Forms
more bookish (comparative)
most bookish (superlative)