as in playful
given to good-natured joking or teasing
an elfish comedian who often played lovable drunks and wisecracking sidekicks
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Recent Examples of elfish
Santa’s elves are generous souls, not elfish.
—
Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Dec. 2025
But showing a recent visitor his awards, Shannon, who at 75 has a shock of snowy hair and an elfish grin, seemed almost embarrassed.
—John Horgan, IEEE Spectrum, 27 Apr. 2016
Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Dec. 2025
But showing a recent visitor his awards, Shannon, who at 75 has a shock of snowy hair and an elfish grin, seemed almost embarrassed.
—John Horgan, IEEE Spectrum, 27 Apr. 2016
Recent Examples of Synonyms for elfish
playful
Adjective
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The fashion icon made a playful reference to the film while presenting the award for best makeup and hairstyling alongside Hathaway.—
Edward Segarra,
USA Today,
16 Mar. 2026
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The collection was still as sexy as ever though, with the playful print appearing on itty-bitty bikinis, barely-there blouses, and, as seen here in look 3, low-slung trousers.—
Rosie Jarman,
Vogue,
16 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Elfish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/elfish. Accessed 17 Mar. 2026.
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