ˈməŋkish, -kēsh adjective
1. : of or relating to monks : monastic
the monkish church … often included three bays of the nave — E.H.Short
2. : characteristic of or befitting monks
the poem is thoroughly medieval and monkish in conception — A.E.Bailey
brooding and moiling in monkish seclusion — A.M.Schlesinger b.1888
3.
a. : being or resembling a monk
working with much of the patient thoroughness of his monkish predecessors — G.W.Eve
: ascetic
I esteem even more a man who puts poverty and a shelf of books above profiteering and evenings of jazz; I am naturally monkish — H.L.Mencken
b. : resembling that of or attributed to a monk or having features attributed to monasticism
a monkish robe
it is monkish , parsimonious, and timid to despise the lavish and complex beauty of life — D.C.Peattie
4. : made or used by monks
flesh begins to appear on the bones of these monkish annals — B.R.Redman
monkish Latin
• monk·ish·ly adverb
• monk·ish·ness noun -es