ish

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

-ish,¹ suffix. 

1. -ish is attached to nouns or roots to form adjectives with the meaning:
   • relating to;
     in the same manner of;
     having the characteristics of:
     brute + -ish → brutish.
   • of or relating to the people or language of:
     Brit- + -ish → British;
     Swede + -ish → Swedish.
   • like;
     similar to:
     baby + -ish → babyish;
     mule + -ish → mulish;
     girl + -ish → girlish.
   • addicted to;
     inclined or tending to:
     book + -ish → bookish (= tending to read books a great deal).
   • near or about:
     fifty + -ish → fiftyish (nearly fifty years old).
2. -ish is also attached to adjectives to form adjectives with the meaning "somewhat, rather'':
   old + -ish → oldish (= somewhat old);
   red + -ish → reddish (= somewhat red);
   sweet + -ish → sweetish.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

-ish,¹ 

1. a suffix used to form adjectives from nouns, with the sense of "belonging to'' (British;
   Danish;
   English;
   Spanish);
   "after the manner of,'' "having the characteristics of,'' "like'' (babyish;
   girlish;
   mulish);
   "addicted to,'' "inclined or tending to'' (bookish;
   freakish);
   "near or about'' (fiftyish;
   sevenish).
2. a suffix used to form adjectives from other adjectives, with the sense of "somewhat,'' "rather'' (oldish;
   reddish;
   sweetish).

• Middle English; Old English -isc; cognate with German -isch, Gothic -isks, Greek -iskos; akin to -esque

-ish,² 

1. a suffix occurring in i-stem verbs borrowed from French:
   ravish.

• French -iss-, extended stem of verbs with infinitives in -ir Latin -isc-, in inceptive verbs

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

-ish suffix:forming_adjectives

1. of or belonging to a nationality or group: Scottish
2. having the manner or qualities of; resembling: slavish, prudish, boyish
3. somewhat; approximately: yellowish, sevenish
4. concerned or preoccupied with: bookish

Etymology: Old English -isc; related to German -isch, Greek -iskos