kittenish

[kit-n-ish]

adjective

1. coyly playful.

2. like or in the manner of a kitten.

kittenish

/ ˈkɪtənɪʃ /

adjective

1. like a kitten; lively

2. (of a woman) flirtatious, esp coyly flirtatious

Other Word Forms

• kittenishness noun
• kittenishly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of kittenish¹

First recorded in 1745–55; kitten + -ish ¹

Example Sentences

Otherwise, Anderson holds her own, cooing her one-liners with the kittenish candor of Marilyn Monroe.

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Seductively kittenish, Gardner lives up to her profane reputation.

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You could not call her kittenish: she was nobody’s pet, nobody’s plaything.

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Her hair is bobbed and her hands and lower arms gloved; on her feet are kittenish, pointy, low-stilettoed black pumps.

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I was a few minutes early one week and entered the office to find Agent Samson doing her job on Garth Barclay, a slight, kittenish boy I'd met back in the fourth grade.

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