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.
And yet the movie’s central storyline hints at writer-director Bassam Tariq’s inclination to subvert his own brooding-antihero saga, allowing room for unpredictability and the slightest whiff of impish irreverence.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
With his impish attitude and energetic outlook, maturing on his own terms, he seems far off from any sort of valedictory phase.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
In San Diego, it had been an impish inside joke for years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
He produced candid, often impish shots of the rockers on stage and off.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025
I ast Well, just look at her, she say sort of impish, turning to look at the child, don’t she look like a Olivia to you?
From "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
