Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Characteristic of or befitting a boy.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Belonging to a boy; pertaining to boyhood; in a disparaging sense, childish, trifling, puerile: as, “a boyish odd conceit,”
- Synonyms
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Resembling a boy in a manners or opinions; belonging to a boy; childish; trifling; puerile.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Like a
boy .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective befitting or characteristic of a young boy
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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_not_ chew gum, but she whistled, and the teachers who reproved her most for what they called a boyish trick, always listened intently, when the clear, musical notes, now soft and low, now loud and shrill, were heard outside, or in the building.
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Snyder, by contrast, beams at us with a certain boyish glee.
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It was a record David would acknowledge in boyish, self-effacing fashion; sometimes proffering a calling card that identified him as a former chief storekeeper and a retired SEAL with the nickname
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I'm with Jane -- we can only hope that some little white power girl reads _The Bungalow Mystery_ and sees herself in boyish cousin George!
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Into his strong young fingers Ulka took a smooth, flat stone; his handsome eyes were lowered in boyish modesty, his thoughts were worshipping her.
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He had always excelled in boyish sports, and as he grew to manhood, his unusual breadth of shoulder still seemed to indicate a physical vigor which the slender wrists, thin, transparent hands, and habitually lax attitude, but too plainly contradicted.
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So you must try to be contented with making your name boyish, and playing brother to us girls, "said Beth, stroking the rough head with a hand that all the dish washing and dusting in the world could not make ungentle in its touch.
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His friends found his clarity a priceless exchange, and his warmth, expressed in a smile you could call boyish, completely trustworthy.
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His friends found his clarity a priceless exchange, and his warmth, expressed in a smile you could call boyish, completely trustworthy.
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I asked a Dutch woman I work with if she knew of her, and she responded, “Oh yes, I recall a boyish looking girl who danced a lot and sang catchy tunes in French…” Boyish?
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