monkish

[ muhng-kish ]

/ ˈmʌŋ kɪʃ /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR monkish ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

of, relating to, or resembling a monk: a monkish manner.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of monkish

First recorded in 1540–50; monk + -ish¹

Related formsmonk·ish·ly, adverbmonk·ish·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for monkish

And I have always despised the monkish obscurity cultivated by certain academics.
How I Write: Stephen Greenblatt, Pulitzer Winner of ‘The Swerve’|Noah Charney|September 19, 2012|DAILY BEAST
This makes you, at turns, desirous of luxury and monkish asceticism, as you strike a balance between the two.
The Stars Predict Your Week|Starsky + Cox|October 9, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Relying on their spiritual pretensions, the monkish scribes gloried in ignorance and paraded want of grammar as a sign of grace. '
Renaissance in Italy, Volume 2 (of 7)|John Addington Symonds
In the exasperated state, especially of the monkish mind, prayers for Becket would easily slide into anathemas against the king.
Life of Thomas Becket|Henry Hart Milman

Among the monkish loot at St. Albans was an ancient cameo herewith reproduced.
Archaic England|Harold Bayley
Let us hear no more then of this monkish cant, and bigotted outcry for the restoration of the horns and tail of the devil!
Hazlitt on English Literature|Jacob Zeitlin
Nothing can be more amusing than the satire which some of these pieces throw on the character of monkish Latin.
A History of Caricature and Grotesque|Thomas Wright

British Dictionary definitions for monkish

monkish

/ (ˈmʌŋkɪʃ) /

adjective

of, relating to, or resembling a monk or monks

Derived Formsmonkishly, adverbmonkishness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for monkish

monkish

adj.

"pertaining to a monk," 1540s, from monk (n.) + -ish. Related: Monkishly; monkishness.