bookish

[book-ish]

adjective

1. given or devoted to reading or study.

2. more acquainted with books than with real life.

3. of or relating to books; literary.

4. stilted; pedantic.

   Synonyms: scholastic, academic

bookish

/ ˈbʊkɪʃ /

adjective

1. fond of reading; studious

2. consisting of or forming opinions or attitudes through reading rather than direct personal experience; academic

   a bookish view of life

3. of or relating to books

   a bookish career in publishing

Other Word Forms

• bookishly adverb
• bookishness noun
• nonbookish adjective
• nonbookishly adverb
• nonbookishness noun
• overbookish adjective
• overbookishly adverb
• overbookishness noun
• unbookish adjective
• unbookishly adverb
• unbookishness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of bookish¹

First recorded in 1560–70; book + -ish ¹

Example Sentences

He seemed a bookish sort of fellow, with a serious face and heavy straight eyebrows that sloped downward over his dark eyes.

Read more on Literature

Daddy would have stood for a moment, taking in all the details and admiring the bookish young men and women scurrying past on their way to class.

Read more on Literature

But he kept coming back to a classic: a slender, bookish typeface famously used in Apple’s “Think Different” campaign.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

His carefully rehearsed lines and bookish glasses earned the self-confessed geek the unwelcome nickname of "Robot Jetten" in his early career.

Read more on Barron's

From her bookish Ohio upbringing to her early forays into feature writing, her anecdotes sing with the pleasure of a person born to her passion and purpose.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• brainy 
• studious