1
as in girlish
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2
as in tomboyish
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Recent Examples of boyish
Near them is a pen and a yellow legal pad, with a few lines scratched in an uneven, boyish hand.
—
Sadia Shepard, New Yorker, 11 Jan. 2026
In the coming years, Garcia and Weir, initially a boyish figure next to his older and usually hairier bandmates, would become the faces of the Dead and its increasingly large cultural footprint.
—Dennis Romero, NBC news, 10 Jan. 2026
It may be masked by his refinement, hidden behind his boyish Christmas-morning smile.
—Marcus Thompson Ii, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2026
Yet the boyish enthusiasm and goofiness that chess fans had come to know from his commentary and YouTube videos was no longer evident.
—Jordan Himelfarb, Time, 15 Dec. 2025
The Track Pant Lean into the boyish ease of track pants by pairing them with an oversized button-up and chunky loafers.
—Christina Holevas, Vogue, 4 Dec. 2025
He’s picked up by a family — a bespectacled father (Mark MacRae), pregnant mother (Zoë Barrett-Wood), teenaged daughter (Audrey Wellington) and boyish son (Lochlan Ray Miller).
—Andrew McGowan, Variety, 27 Oct. 2025
Remembering Robert Redford Robert Redford, the legendary leading man with boyish good looks and charm who used his star power to advocate for independent filmmaking, environmentalism and LGBTQ rights, has died at age 89.
—Nicole Fallert, USA Today, 17 Sep. 2025
He was known for his boyish good looks and charm, advocating for independent filmmaking, environmentalism and LGBTQ rights.
—Mariyam Muhammad, Cincinnati Enquirer, 16 Sep. 2025
Sadia Shepard, New Yorker, 11 Jan. 2026
In the coming years, Garcia and Weir, initially a boyish figure next to his older and usually hairier bandmates, would become the faces of the Dead and its increasingly large cultural footprint.
—Dennis Romero, NBC news, 10 Jan. 2026
It may be masked by his refinement, hidden behind his boyish Christmas-morning smile.
—Marcus Thompson Ii, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2026
Yet the boyish enthusiasm and goofiness that chess fans had come to know from his commentary and YouTube videos was no longer evident.
—Jordan Himelfarb, Time, 15 Dec. 2025
The Track Pant Lean into the boyish ease of track pants by pairing them with an oversized button-up and chunky loafers.
—Christina Holevas, Vogue, 4 Dec. 2025
He’s picked up by a family — a bespectacled father (Mark MacRae), pregnant mother (Zoë Barrett-Wood), teenaged daughter (Audrey Wellington) and boyish son (Lochlan Ray Miller).
—Andrew McGowan, Variety, 27 Oct. 2025
Remembering Robert Redford Robert Redford, the legendary leading man with boyish good looks and charm who used his star power to advocate for independent filmmaking, environmentalism and LGBTQ rights, has died at age 89.
—Nicole Fallert, USA Today, 17 Sep. 2025
He was known for his boyish good looks and charm, advocating for independent filmmaking, environmentalism and LGBTQ rights.
—Mariyam Muhammad, Cincinnati Enquirer, 16 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for boyish
Adjective
-
Her girlish pout, tiny waist and generous bust were often more appreciated than her talent.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
28 Dec. 2025
-
As mainstream culture embraces girlish femininity alongside an ahistoric raw-milked nostalgia for a trad past, the sheep becomes a totem of the submissive, sacrificial role for women and girls in a new gender landscape.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Linda Kaye Henning charmed audiences as Betty Jo Bradley, the spirited and tomboyish youngest daughter on Petticoat Junction.—
Tereza Shkurtaj,
PEOPLE,
11 Jan. 2026
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Off-duty, the actor can be found in statement outerwear and tomboyish button-ups and trousers.—
Hannah Jackson,
Vogue,
10 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
Maybe this is just appealing to my simplest, most childish instincts, reacting to bright colours like a toddler might.—
Nick Miller,
New York Times,
21 Jan. 2026
-
When Smith drives us in the golf cart, hunched close to the wheel, a look of childish mischief spreads over his face.—
Sam Kestenbaum,
Vulture,
2 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
This soft, shimmery pink mani is a girly girl’s dream.—
Rebecca Norris,
InStyle,
20 Jan. 2026
-
The Skims founder just embraced the girly, ruffly, bow-loving look with a festive—and somewhat unexpected—hairstyle.—
Kara Nesvig,
Allure,
4 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
There's macho panache and white-knuckle action sequences aplenty as Pitt's eccentric Formula 1 veteran plays reluctant mentor to a hotshot rookie (Damson Idris).—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
22 Jan. 2026
-
The Rip, from the director Joe Carnahan, is a cop drama where macho guys (and gals) tote carbine rifles and grunt law-enforcement lingo—the kind of crime-genre pablum that commonly gets thrown onto Netflix in mid-January.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
21 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Boyish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/boyish. Accessed 29 Jan. 2026.
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