kernish

English

Etymology

From kern +‎ -ish, from kern (“a boor”).

Adjective

kernish (comparative more kernish, superlative most kernish)

1. (obsolete) clownish; boorish
   • 1642, John Milton, The Reason of Church-Government Urg’d against Prelaty; republished in A Complete Collection of the Historical, Political, and Miscellaneous Works of John Milton, […], volume I, Amsterdam [actually London: s.n.], 1698, →OCLC, pages 218–219:

     Ireland […] was once the conqueſt of one ſingle Earl with his private forces, and the ſmall aſſiſtance of a petty Kerniſh Prince,

References

• “kernish”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• shrinke