waspish

See also: WASPish

English

WOTD – 4 November 2009

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *webʰ-

Proto-Indo-European *wóbʰseh₂

Proto-Germanic *wapsō

Proto-West Germanic *wapsu

Old English wæps

Middle English wasp

English wasp

Proto-Indo-European *-iskos

Proto-Germanic *-iskaz

Proto-West Germanic *-isk

Old English -isċ

Middle English -isch

English -ish

English waspish

From wasp + -ish.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈwɒs.pɪʃ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈwɑ.spɪʃ/

  Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (Australia):

  (file)

Adjective

waspish (comparative more waspish, superlative most waspish)

1. Suggestive of the behaviour of a wasp.
2. (figurative) Spiteful or irascible.
   • 1702, [Colley] Cibber, She Wou’d, and She Wou’d Not, or The Kind Impostor. A Comedy. […], London: […] William Turner […], and John Nutt, […], published 1703, →OCLC, Act III, page 30:

     Svveet Hony-Comb, don't be ſo VVaſpiſh: […]

   • 1997, Henry Louis Gates Jr., “The Passing of Anatole Broyard”, in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Man, New York: Random House, page 181:

     Always, he radiated an air of soigné self-confidence: he could be amiable in his opinions or waspish, but he never betrayed a flicker of doubt about what he thought.

Derived terms

• waspishly
• waspishness

Translations

suggestive of the behaviour of a wasp

• Finnish: ampiaismainen (fi)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: σφήκειος (sphḗkeios)

spiteful or irascible

• Bulgarian: ядосан (bg) (jadosan), раздразнен (bg) (razdraznen)
• Danish: giftig (da), hvas (da), skarp (da)
• Finnish: äkäinen (fi)
• French: grincheux (fr)
• Irish: colgach