sheepish

English

Etymology

From Middle English schepische, shepisse, shepisshe; equivalent to sheep +‎ -ish.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃiːpɪʃ/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

Adjective

sheepish (comparative more sheepish, superlative most sheepish)

1. Having the characteristics of a sheep, as meekness, shyness, or docility.
   • 2025 May 11, Monica Padrick, “Don Tyxote” (15:04 from the start), in Krapopolis‎^[1], season 2, episode 21, spoken by Tyrannis (Richard Ayoade):

     “King Ty? Your sister is back.” “I don't want to talk to her unless she's here to apologize. Does she look sheepish?” “I guess I've seen a sheep in a cage before, so, yeah, kind of.”

3. Shy, meek, ashamed or embarrassed.

   a sheepish girl

   a sheepish grin

Derived terms

• sheepishly
• sheepishness

Translations

having the characteristics of a sheep

• Bulgarian: овчи (ovči)
• Danish: fåret
• Dutch: schaapachtig (nl)
• Finnish: lammasmainen (fi)
• Italian: pecorino (it), pecoresco, pecorile (it)
• Polish: owczy (pl)
• Russian: ове́чий (ru) (ovéčij)

shy, meek, shameful or embarrassed

• Bulgarian: стеснителен (bg) (stesnitelen), смутен (bg) (smuten)
• Danish: fåret, flov (da)
• Dutch: schaapachtig (nl) n
• French: penaud (fr)
• Greek: ντροπαλός (el) (ntropalós)
• Hiligaynon: torpe
• Khmer: អៀន (km) (iǝn)
• Maori: whakakumu
• Norman: peîneux
• Polish: zawstydzony (pl), zakłopotany (pl), zmieszany (pl)
• Romanian: bleg (ro)
• Russian: ро́бкий (ru) (róbkij), засте́нчивый (ru) (zasténčivyj)
• Scots: blate
• Scottish Gaelic: nàireach