Owlish
//ˈaʊlɪʃ// adj
adj ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Adjective
- 1 Resembling or characteristic of an owl.
"1914, Theodore Dreiser, The Titan, Chapter 26, http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/fr100299.txt "You're very right," he said, with owlish smugness, adjusting a waistcoat button that had come loose, and smoothing his cuffs."
- 2 Wise and solemn.
"[…] their large black eyes scanned the drawings with the owlish look of wisdom peculiar to connoisseurs."
- 3 Stupid; dull-looking.
Adjective
- 1 resembling an owl; solemn and wise in appearance wordnet
Example
More examples"1914, Theodore Dreiser, The Titan, Chapter 26, http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/fr100299.txt "You're very right," he said, with owlish smugness, adjusting a waistcoat button that had come loose, and smoothing his cuffs."
Etymology
From owl + -ish.
More for "owlish"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.