puckish

puckish
\ \ [19] In English folklore from the late Middle Ages onward, Puck was a mischievous but essentially harmless sprite, up to all sorts of tricks (hence the coining of puckish for ‘mischievous’). But his Anglo-Saxon ancestor Pūca was a far less pleasant proposition – for this was the Devil himself. He gradually dwindled over the centuries, but a hint of his former power remained in his placatory alternative name Robin Goodfellow. It is not known whether pūca is of Germanic or Celtic origin.

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Puckish — Puck ish, a. [From {Puck}.] Resembling Puck; merry; mischievous. Puckish freaks. J. R. Green. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • puckish — 1874, from PUCK (Cf. Puck) + ISH (Cf. ish) …   Etymology dictionary

  • puckish — [puk′ish] adj. [< PUCK2 & ISH] full of mischief; impish puckishly adv. puckishness n …   English World dictionary

  • puckish — [[t]pʌ̱kɪʃ[/t]] ADJ: usu ADJ n If you describe someone as puckish, you mean that they play tricks on people or tease them. [OLD FASHIONED, WRITTEN] He had a puckish sense of humour, but was just as ready to apply it to himself as to others. Syn:… …   English dictionary

  • puckish — puck|ish [ˈpʌkıʃ] adj [usually before noun] literary [Date: 1800 1900; Origin: Puck evil spirit in old English stories] showing that you are amused by other people, and like to make jokes about them ▪ a puckish grin >puckishly adv …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • puckish — [19] In English folklore from the late Middle Ages onward, Puck was a mischievous but essentially harmless sprite, up to all sorts of tricks (hence the coining of puckish for ‘mischievous’). But his Anglo Saxon ancestor Pūca was a far less… …   The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

  • puckish — adjective literary showing that you are amused by other people, and like to make jokes about them: a puckish grin puckishly adverb …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • puckish — adjective he gave her a puckish grin Syn: mischievous, naughty, impish, roguish, playful, arch, prankish; informal waggish …   Thesaurus of popular words

  • puckish — adj mischievous, full of mischief, mis chiefmaking; prankish, impish, imp like, pixyish, puckish, elfish, elfin, fey; waggish, naughty, roguish, scampish, arch, Scot. hempy; playful, sportive, frolicsome; devilish, trouble making, unruly,… …   A Note on the Style of the synonym finder

  • puckish — adjective Etymology: 1puck Date: 1874 impish, whimsical • puckishly adverb • puckishness noun …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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