Bookish Meaning
/ˈbʊkɪʃ/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjFond of reading or studying, especially said of someone lacking social skills as a result.
adjCharacterized by a method of expression generally found in books.
Sentence Examples
My teacher is too bookish.
She's undergone a metamorphosis from a quiet, bookish girl to an outspoken feminist activist.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Her ____ personality made her prefer the library over the party.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He was a ____ young man who preferred libraries to sports fields.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂ǵosder.? Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂g-der.? Proto-Germanic *bōks Proto-West Germanic *bōk Old English bōc Middle English bok English book Proto-Indo-European *-iskos Proto-Germanic *-iskaz Proto-West Germanic *-isk Old English -isċ Middle English -ish English -ish English bookish From book + -ish.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"From a child I was fond of reading, and all the little money that came into my hands was ever laid out in books. […] This bookish inclination at length determined my father to make me a printer, though he had already one son (James) of that profession."
— 1783, Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, page 16:
"A Google search reveals Gendrot has no great internet or social media footprint, but in any case, he says, the police recruiters did not delve into his background. He did change his round spectacles to look less “bookish”."
— 2020 September 3, Kim Willsher, “French reporter who joined police exposes racism and violence”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
"Besides, all my New York friends were in the negative, nightmare position of putting down society and giving their tired bookish or political or psychoanalytical reasons, […]"
— 1957, Jack Kerouac, chapter 1, in On the Road, Viking Press, →OCLC, part 1:
"Obviously, neither Corneille nor the characters who laugh at excessively bookish speech avoid literary convention."
— 1996, Helen L. Harrison, Pistoles/Paroles: Money and Language in Seventeenth-century French Comedy, page 50:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Her ____ personality made her prefer the library over the party.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He was a ____ young man who preferred libraries to sports fields.