bookish
Americanadjective
-
given or devoted to reading or study.
-
more acquainted with books than with real life.
-
of or relating to books; literary.
-
stilted; pedantic.
- Synonyms:
- scholastic, academic
adjective
-
fond of reading; studious
-
consisting of or forming opinions or attitudes through reading rather than direct personal experience; academic
a bookish view of life
-
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
Etymology
Origin of bookish
Explanation
Someone bookish likes books a lot. They're either studious or always seem to be reading. Some people don't like studying. Others like studying a lot: it seems like their head is always in a book. Someone like that can be called bookish, because they are reading books all the time. Being bookish can mean someone is studious: an honors student is likely very bookish. Being bookish can also mean someone just enjoys reading. People in a book club are definitely bookish. This is a word for devoted readers.
Vocabulary lists containing bookish
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It’s a simplistic vision of the world that could appeal to and be well understood by bookish children like me.
From Slate • Jan. 14, 2026
Standing on the touchline wearing his bookish glasses and polo neck jumper while holding a notebook, Rosenior looked more like a young college lecturer than a Premier League manager.
From Barron's • Jan. 10, 2026
But he kept coming back to a classic: a slender, bookish typeface famously used in Apple’s “Think Different” campaign.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 13, 2025
Bright and bookish, after wartime evacuation to the Lake District, Prunella attended Moira House Girls School in Eastbourne.
From BBC • Oct. 28, 2025
“My second. Brynden is my eldest, and my heir. Next comes Hoster. A bookish boy, I fear.”
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
