offish

American

[aw-fish, of-ish] / ˈɔ fɪʃ, ˈɒf ɪʃ /

adjective

Informal.

aloof; unapproachable; standoffish.

offish British

/ ˈɒfɪʃ /

adjective

informal aloof or distant in manner

"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

Other Word Forms

offishly adverb
offishness noun

Etymology

Origin of offish

An Americanism dating back to 1825–35; off + -ish ¹

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.

But the only man who takes an interest in him is an offish fellow named Fitzgerald.

From Washington Post • Oct. 17, 2017

Within a couple of weeks of me moving in we went out for a meal, and as we came back he was basically quite offish with me, and I just didn't understand.

From BBC • Sep. 7, 2016

The positioning can be creepily over-friendly or offish.

From BBC • Nov. 13, 2014

Late in the afternoon they emerged from cover, easily caught at least seven kinds offish in traditional Hawaiian sling nets and cooked them on steaming stones.

From Time Magazine Archive

I let that down, baited, and I waited to see what sort offish I would catch.

From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023