puckish

1 of 2

adjective

puck·​ish ˈpə-kish 

: impish, whimsical

puckishly adverb

puckishness noun

puckishness

2 of 2

noun

puck·​ish·​ness

-kishnə̇s, 

-kēsh-

plural -es

: the quality or state of being puckish

a charming puckishness which helps to explain the wide range of his friendships

—Mason Wade

Did you know?

We know Puck as "that merry wanderer of the night," the shape-changing, maiden-frightening, mischief-sowing henchman to the king of the fairies in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Bard drew on English folklore in casting his character, but the traditional Puck was more malicious than the Shakespearean imp; he was an evil spirit or demon. In medieval England, this nasty hobgoblin was known as the puke or pouke, names related to the Old Norse pūki, meaning "devil." (There is no connection to modern English puke.) But it was the Bard's characterization that stuck, and by the time the adjective puckish started appearing regularly in English texts in the 1800s the association was one of impishness, not evil.

Synonyms of puckish

Adjective

• mischievous
• wicked
• playful
• impish
• prankish

Examples of puckish in a Sentence

Adjective

He had a puckish smile on his face.

he takes a puckish delight in teasing her about her love life, or lack thereof

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Like O’Brien, Tommy is puckish and up for anything, especially a good gag. —Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 6 Apr. 2026

The puckish figure draws heavily on Nordic fairy tales, including stories of elves. —Jasmin Malik Chua, Sourcing Journal, 24 Mar. 2026

The book forfeits the puckish immediacy of Bush’s Instagram dispatches for more earnest, effortful prose. —Hannah Goldfield, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026

Throughout it all, he's maintained a puckish, playful approach. —Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 8 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

puck entry 2

First Known Use

Adjective

1831, in the meaning defined above

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