puckish

puckish
[19] In English folklore from the late Middle Ages onward, Puck was a mischievous but essentially harmless sprite, up to all sorts of tricks (hence the coining of puckish for ‘mischievous’). But his Anglo-Saxon ancestor Pūca was a far less pleasant proposition – for this was the Devil himself. He gradually dwindled over the centuries, but a hint of his former power remained in his placatory alternative name Robin Goodfellow. It is not known whether pūca is of Germanic or Celtic origin.

The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins. 2013.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Puckish — Puck ish, a. [From {Puck}.] Resembling Puck; merry; mischievous. Puckish freaks. J. R. Green. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • puckish — 1874, from PUCK (Cf. Puck) + ISH (Cf. ish) …   Etymology dictionary

  • puckish — [puk′ish] adj. [< PUCK2 & ISH] full of mischief; impish puckishly adv. puckishness n …   English World dictionary

  • puckish — [[t]pʌ̱kɪʃ[/t]] ADJ: usu ADJ n If you describe someone as puckish, you mean that they play tricks on people or tease them. [OLD FASHIONED, WRITTEN] He had a puckish sense of humour, but was just as ready to apply it to himself as to others. Syn:… …   English dictionary

  • puckish — puck|ish [ˈpʌkıʃ] adj [usually before noun] literary [Date: 1800 1900; Origin: Puck evil spirit in old English stories] showing that you are amused by other people, and like to make jokes about them ▪ a puckish grin >puckishly adv …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • puckish — adjective literary showing that you are amused by other people, and like to make jokes about them: a puckish grin puckishly adverb …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • puckish — adjective he gave her a puckish grin Syn: mischievous, naughty, impish, roguish, playful, arch, prankish; informal waggish …   Thesaurus of popular words

  • puckish — adj mischievous, full of mischief, mis chiefmaking; prankish, impish, imp like, pixyish, puckish, elfish, elfin, fey; waggish, naughty, roguish, scampish, arch, Scot. hempy; playful, sportive, frolicsome; devilish, trouble making, unruly,… …   A Note on the Style of the synonym finder

  • puckish — [19] In English folklore from the late Middle Ages onward, Puck was a mischievous but essentially harmless sprite, up to all sorts of tricks (hence the coining of puckish for ‘mischievous’). But his Anglo Saxon ancestor Pūca was a far less… …   Word origins

  • puckish — adjective Etymology: 1puck Date: 1874 impish, whimsical • puckishly adverb • puckishness noun …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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