as in mischievous
tending to or exhibiting reckless playfulness
told the prankish lad that someone would eventually get hurt if he kept it up
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Recent Examples of prankish
Still, at its best, Needle Guy applies Brady’s prankish energy to unsettling inversions of his inspirations.
—
Colin Joyce, Pitchfork, 25 Mar. 2026
Yet, the prankish tone keeps Grace from having much of a personality, other than a rebellious screw this.
—Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2026
And then there’s Whitehead’s own work: erudite, prankish, experimental in a literal sense—the act of listening is sometimes the experiment.
—Literary Hub, 4 Nov. 2025
And within the prankish world created by the production, not everyone was in on the joke.
—David Renard, New York Times, 1 May 2025
Fuchs put a prankish spin on the descending octaves that tootle above the reprise of the symphony’s solemn opening.
—Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2024
Colin Joyce, Pitchfork, 25 Mar. 2026
Yet, the prankish tone keeps Grace from having much of a personality, other than a rebellious screw this.
—Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2026
And then there’s Whitehead’s own work: erudite, prankish, experimental in a literal sense—the act of listening is sometimes the experiment.
—Literary Hub, 4 Nov. 2025
And within the prankish world created by the production, not everyone was in on the joke.
—David Renard, New York Times, 1 May 2025
Fuchs put a prankish spin on the descending octaves that tootle above the reprise of the symphony’s solemn opening.
—Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for prankish
Adjective
-
Play wants safe boundaries as mischievous Mercury conjoins imaginative Neptune in your 5th House of Creativity.—
Tarot.com,
Hartford Courant,
16 Apr. 2026
-
The Moon conjoins mischievous Mercury in your 5th House of Celebration, which invites you to engage in joyful self-expression.—
Tarot.com,
Chicago Tribune,
15 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
This wicked man is named Tobias Thornhill.—
Rebecca Alter,
Vulture,
14 Apr. 2026
-
In the original fairytale, the stepmother is portrayed as cold, self-serving and wicked, but Hochhauser recognized and uplifted a different version of the character.—
Rachel Raposas,
PEOPLE,
8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
When the worst-case scenario of overindulging was losing an afternoon or buying too many snacks, the genre could stretch that experience into something playful and surreal.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
20 Apr. 2026
-
The bar puts playful twists on classic cocktails, offering things like a tahini old fashioned ($20), complementing the cocktail’s gentle sweetness with a nutty note.—
Sean Timberlake,
Sacbee.com,
20 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Prankish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/prankish. Accessed 23 Apr. 2026.
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