owlish

English

Etymology

owl +‎ -ish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaʊlɪʃ/
• Hyphenation: owl‧ish

Adjective

owlish (comparative more owlish, superlative most owlish)

1. Resembling or characteristic of an owl.
   • 1914, Theodore Dreiser, The Titan, Chapter 26, [1]

     "You're very right," he said, with owlish smugness, adjusting a waistcoat button that had come loose, and smoothing his cuffs.

   • 1951, Sinclair Lewis, chapter 2, in World So Wide‎^[2]:

     He feebly wanted to get out of this, away from clucking nurses and Dr. Crittenham's owlish peering and the horrible scrambled eggs and cold toast.

   • 1953, C. S. Lewis, chapter 4, in The Silver Chair, Collins, published 1998:

     This owl imitated Trumpkin’s voice rather well, and there were sounds of owlish laughter all round.

2. Wise and solemn. (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)
   • 1880, R. M. Ballantyne, Blown to Bits or, The Lonely Man of Rakata:

     […] their large black eyes scanned the drawings with the owlish look of wisdom peculiar to connoisseurs.

3. Stupid; dull-looking.

Synonyms

• (like an owl): owllike, owly, strigine

Derived terms

• owlishly
• owlishness

Translations

resembling or characteristic of an owl

• German: eulenhaft (de)
• Manx: hulladagh
• Portuguese: corujento

Anagrams

• lowish