donnish

[don-ish]

adjective

1. resembling or characteristic of a university don; scholarly; pedantic.

donnish

/ ˈdɒnɪʃ /

adjective

1. of or resembling a university don

Other Word Forms

• donnishness noun
• donnishly adverb
• donnism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of donnish¹

First recorded in 1845–50; don ¹ + -ish ¹

Example Sentences

In his cap and gown, he looked whatever the opposite of donnish is.

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Simons has retained a donnish air from his days as a lecturer.

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I think when I meet those arguments I tend to become a bit donnish, perhaps slightly finger-wagging.

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Mark even looked like one of those donnish figures fictionalised in the pages of the Cold War thrillers he loved.

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He still fires up the forge now and then, either to do donnish demonstrations for new hires or to make things: door hinges, fireplace sets, a shovel for his son’s pizza oven.

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Related Words

• abstruse 
• pompous 
• stilted