-ISH


Meaning of -ISH in English

-ish /ɪʃ/ BrE AmE suffix

[ Language: Old English ; Origin: -isc ]

1 . [in nouns] the people or language of a particular country or place:

Are the British unfriendly?

learning to speak Turkish

She’s Swedish.

2 . [in adjectives] of a particular place:

Spanish food (=from Spain)

3 . [in adjectives] typical of or like a particular type of person:

foolish behaviour (=typical of a fool)

Don’t be so childish! (=do not behave like a child)

snobbish

4 . [in adjectives] the ending of some adjectives that show disapproval:

selfish

5 . [in adjectives] rather SYN quite :

youngish (=not very young, but not old either)

tallish

reddish hair

6 . [in adjectives] spoken ↑ approximately :

We’ll expect you eightish (=at about 8 o'clock) .

He’s fortyish (=about 40 years old) .

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.