beamish

American  

[bee-mish] / ˈbi mɪʃ /

adjective

1. bright, cheerful, and optimistic.

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Etymology

Origin of beamish

First recorded in 1520–30; beam (in the sense “ray of light”) + -ish ¹

Explanation

Use the adjective beamish when you describe someone who is smiling and cheerful. A beamish child tends to laugh and play happily with his friends all afternoon. Though it's unusual, beamish is a descriptive way to talk about a smiley, optimistic person. Your kindergarten teacher may have been beamish, cheering students up with her positive attitude and sweet smile. Most kids are beamish when they visit amusement parks and playgrounds. Beamish dates from the 1500s, from the verb beam, "to smile radiantly." Lewis Carroll may have thought he invented the word in his poem "Jabberwocky," which is full of made-up words, but beamish is real, if uncommon.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

beamish

That’s not the fault of the beamish, resourceful Ross, who, as a recent Evan Hansen, has experience portraying liars.

From New York Times ● Feb. 6, 2024

At least the songs are sung well: Jones is as beamish as his music sounds; you can see and hear how his Ivan might be the star the show says he is.

From New York Times ● Mar. 15, 2023

Beverley Nichols is one of those beamish young men of whom England and the U. S. were so full in the early, hearty days of the English Speaking Union.

From Time Magazine Archive

He was no longer a beamish boy to whom older men could give condescending pats, and he began to pay the price of swift success.

From Time Magazine Archive

How gallantly the "beamish boy" must have dealt the death-stroke to the queer brute as the orchestra sounded the Siegfried and the Dragon motives, and the air all the while redolent with heliotrope.

From Unicorns by James Huneker