Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

cartoonish

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.59 in modern English

Syllables: car-toon-ish
IPA

15

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

3

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Exaggerated or caricatured, in the manner of a cartoon.

Example Sentences

"She was grinning a big, cartoonish grin."
"Since first tossing its cartoonish, good-time cock-rock to the masses in the early ’00s, The Darkness has always fallen back on this defense: The band is a joke, but hey, it’s a good joke. With Hot Cakes—the group’s third album, and first since reforming last year—the laughter has died. In its place is the sad wheeze of the last surviving party balloon slowly, listlessly deflating."
"[David] Remnick suggested it was “cartoonish”, to which [Anna] Wintour agreed, adding: “Yes, a caricature.”"
"His requirement for compliments, flattery, adoration and awards is so continual and extreme that it is of cartoonish proportions, with all the garishness that characterizes the most exaggerated satire."

Etymology

From cartoon + -ish. Piecewise doublet of cartoonesque.

Word Breakdown

Suffix: cartoon

Inflected Forms

more cartoonish (comparative) most cartoonish (superlative)

Derived Forms

cartoonishly cartoonishness

Synonyms

cartoonesque cartoonlike cartoony

Questions

What does cartoonish mean?: Exaggerated or caricatured, in the manner of a cartoon.
Where does cartoonish come from?: From cartoon + -ish. Piecewise doublet of cartoonesque.

How to pronounce cartoonish

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “cartoonish”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
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Repeat and practice — Say “cartoonish” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.