impish
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
- impishly adverb
- impishness noun
Etymology
Origin of impish
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.
“I’m having so much fun,” he said to his teammates, with an impish grin.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 17, 2026
Mr. Powell radiates such manly American likability that it’s bizarrely out of character for him to play this ruthless schemer, even as an impish chancer.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 19, 2026
These alternately grave and impish modes recur throughout the show, aptly subtitled “Serious Play,” often combining in a single image.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 12, 2025
Manuel chips in enthusiastically with an impish grin, saying that the new systems that he too firmly believes will emerge will be the "next stage in humanity's evolution".
From BBC • May 25, 2025
Smith’s head—the stiff Indian hair, the Irish-Indian blending of dark skin and pert, impish features— reminded him of the suspect’s pretty sister, the nice Mrs. Johnson.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
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.
