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
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
Lauren said she saw herself in the bookish Rory.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 5, 2025
I became bookish, puzzling to all my family.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
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.
