impish
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of impish
Explanation
If you know someone who's playful and mischievous, you can describe them as impish. Your impish little brother probably gets away with all kinds of pranks because he's so cute. If you're impish, you might play practical jokes on people, tease them, tickle them, or be otherwise cheerfully annoying. The troublemaker in a kindergarten class is likely to be fairly impish, naughty and a little silly. The adjective impish comes from imp, a mythological creature that's similar to a fairy but known in folklore for its jokes and pranks.
Vocabulary lists containing impish
Stargirl
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A Thousand Splendid Suns
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The Color Purple
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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.
With Dylan, he recalled the mercurial genius’ impish side.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 3, 2026
The wheelie-dealies allow drivers to navigate the R2’s devilishly smart, wickedly fast UX, which splashes its crisp, legible graphics and impish animation across both the binnacle display and the one in the center dash.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 27, 2026
This time, he had an impish twinkle in his eye.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 2, 2025
The 18-karat toilet was created by Maurizio Cattelan, the same impish artist behind last year’s $6.2 million duct-tape banana.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 31, 2025
Kira thought of the impish boy, of his generosity and his laughter, of his devotion to the little dog.
From "Gathering Blue" by Lois Lowry
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.
