beamish

[bee-mish]

adjective

bright, cheerful, and optimistic.

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Origin of beamish

1520–30; beam (noun) + -ish¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for beamish

Historical Examples of beamish

Apparently changing the subject, he said: "You know—or know of—Mrs. Beamish, don't you?"
The Paliser case
Edgar Saltus
Paliser, in producing Mrs. Beamish, had also produced the programme.
The Paliser case
Edgar Saltus
Beamish will attend to everything for you—if you care to go.
The Cross-Cut
Courtney Ryley Cooper
"Confound that man Coburn," he heard Captain Beamish mutter.
The Pit Prop Syndicate
Freeman Wills Crofts
Captain Beamish is tall and strongly built, but I should not say he was stout.
The Pit Prop Syndicate
Freeman Wills Crofts

Word Origin and History for beamish

adj.

1530 (Palsgrave), from beam + -ish. Lewis Carroll may have thought he was inventing it in "Jabberwocky."

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper