as in professorial
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Recent Examples of donnish
Much of it is donnish intellectual history, full of interesting but digressive discussions.
—
Jeffrey Collins, WSJ, 5 Oct. 2018
Jeffrey Collins, WSJ, 5 Oct. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for donnish
Adjective
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An English professor at Harvard and the author of two acclaimed novels, The Old Drift (2019) and The Furrows (2022), Serpell combines a professorial breadth of reference and a novelist’s fascination with the mechanics of literature.—
Judith Shulevitz,
The Atlantic,
17 Feb. 2026
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Learning to Engage McMillon has an almost professorial air that’s articulate, polite and exudes competence — but his skill set was honed by long years of experience.—
Evan Clark,
Footwear News,
3 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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According to German law, parents aren’t allowed to homeschool based on their religious or pedagogical convictions.—
Katrina Donham,
Parents,
25 Feb. 2026
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Much as parents have had to educate themselves on phonics, critical race theory, and other pedagogical topics to evaluate what their children are learning in school, parents will also have to learn about AI when choosing a school for their children.—
Jonah Davids,
Washington Post,
3 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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However bookish my ideal of it, going to Antarctica aligned with my idea of myself as tough, independent, and not old.—
Cree LeFavour,
New Yorker,
7 Mar. 2026
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Thomas Harris grew up in the South as a bookish outcast, reading the works of Ernest Hemingway and Jonathan Swift.—
Costa Beavin Pappas,
Los Angeles Times,
2 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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As men's wear grew less formal, Woody Allen would stake a claim on baggy khaki and corduroy as the uniform of a tweedy, tightly wound New Yorker.—
Joshua Hunt,
New York Times,
12 June 2024
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Her clothes, increasingly, have a pragmatic femininity, like a number of tweedy bellbottom suits that opened the show, some with vests of blue and coral beads covering the front, or diamond patterns of turquoise and plum sequins on the sleeves.—
Rachel Tashjian,
Harper's BAZAAR,
8 Dec. 2022
Adjective
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At the heart of this debate seems to be both a misunderstanding of the point of scholastic sports and a view, at least by some, that trans girls have an unfair physical advantage.—
Peter Jensen,
Baltimore Sun,
21 Jan. 2026
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In a white paper released in October, the committee recommends moving the men’s game, and perhaps the women’s, from the current fall-only schedule to one that covers the entire scholastic year and culminates in an April playoff festival.—
Luke Cyphers,
Sportico.com,
12 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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The deceptively low-key humor of Demetri Martin was once labeled nerdy or alternative, given his smart one-liners, on-stage drawings and overall subtly.—
John Wenzel,
Denver Post,
5 Mar. 2026
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The question feels like the lead up to a nerdy joke.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Donnish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/donnish. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
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