ish

See also -ish, and Ish

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɪʃ

Etymology 1

From is

Verb

ish

1. Eye dialect spelling of is.

Etymology 2

From the suffix -ish.

Adverb

ish (not comparable)

1. (colloquial) somewhat, reasonably, fairly

   "How was the film?" "It was good, ish."

   The exam went well, ish.

2. (colloquial) about, approximately
   • 1974, Kingsley Amis, Ending up‎, page 11:

     'With luck, about twelve.' 'Ah,' said Bernard. 'Twelve-thirty. Ish.'

   • 2007, Marne Davis Kellogg, Friends in High Places, page 283:

     How old are you? Fifty-ish?" / "Ish." / The color flared in her cheeks but she didn't look as though she were going to shoot me.

Synonyms

• around, near, nearly, almost, about, loosely, roughly, close to

Translations

somewhat

• Finnish: -ehko (fi), -ehkö (fi)

• German: ungefähr (de)

reasonably, fairly

• Finnish: -ehko (fi), -ehkö (fi)

about, approximately

• Finnish: noin (fi)

Etymology 3

From Pitman ess and eff, which it resembles phonetically and graphically, and the sound it represents. The change in vowel probably reflects the familiar suffix -ish.

Noun

ish (plural ishes)

1. The name of the letter which stands for the sh sound IPA: /ʃ/ in Pitman shorthand.

Related terms

• esh, the IPA letter for the same sound
• zhee

Anagrams

• his , His
• IHS
• shi