1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

puckish

adjective

ˈpə-kish How to pronounce puckish (audio)
Definition of puckishnext
as in mischievous
tending to or exhibiting reckless playfulness he takes a puckish delight in teasing her about her love life, or lack thereof

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of puckish Throughout it all, he's maintained a puckish, playful approach. — Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 8 Feb. 2026 Her politics grew out of puckish sass—a need to trouble the authority of her conservative parents—as much as out of an essential righteousness. — Literary Hub, 4 Dec. 2025 And chuckled with Spicy, Austin’s own puckish cartoonist. — Steve Sewall, Chicago Tribune, 18 Aug. 2025 Like End of the Century, Castro’s latest is both sexy and surprisingly cosmic, but this time with a casual, puckish charm. — Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 7 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for puckish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for puckish
  1. mischievous
  2. wicked
  3. playful
  4. impish
  5. prankish
Adjective
  • Palestinian children could be ordinary children—bored, mischievous, happy, alive.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Homer, of course, is perhaps the most lovable dimwit ever created, and his dynamic with Bart — the quick-to-anger suburban dad, the innocently mischievous adolescent son — is pure Americana.
    — Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of mischievous
Adjective
  • After crash landing on the dark world directly onto the homing beacon, EO and his crazy crew are apprehended by a gang of warrior henchmen and hauled into the throne room to face the wicked alien ruler who is imprisoned in anger and hate.
    — Jeff Spry, Space.com, 15 Sep. 2026
  • Our only recent point of reference for a 'flying' car is the BYD Yangwang U9 which managed a 20-ft leap over spikes last year, enabled by a wicked active suspension system.
    — Abhimanyu Ghoshal, New Atlas, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of wicked
Adjective
  • The Moon enters Capricorn and your playful 5th house, inviting you toward hobbies, romance, creativity, and pleasure.
    — Tarot.com, Chicago Tribune, 19 Sep. 2026
  • The shoe was elevated by a heel with a crystal cube design at the base, contributing a sense of glamour and a playful geometric aesthetic.
    — Jaden Thompson, Footwear News, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of playful
Adjective
  • In a sprightly performance rife with oddball mannerisms, Gnecco gives Borges equal parts impish wisdom, earthy vulgarity and childlike wonder, rarely letting a moment’s silence go unfilled with eager chatter.
    — Guy Lodge, Variety, 29 Aug. 2026
  • Ahead of the comedy’s second season, FX brought on Danny DeVito to play Dennis and Dee’s impish, absentee businessman father, Frank, in hopes that his presence would bring in more viewers.
    — Paula Mejía, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of impish
Adjective
  • The catastrophies that our heroine averts are awfully small potatoes — a bulldozer running amok, an amusement park ride speeding out of control, some prankish teenagers scheming to turn the girl’s shower into a steambath.
    — Arthur Knight, HollywoodReporter, 25 June 2026
  • Angela Balogh Calin’s costumes prepare the way for Ionesco’s prankish jokes.
    — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2026
Definition of prankish

Browse Nearby Words

puckery
puckish
pucks
See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP

Cite this Entry

“Puckish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/puckish. Accessed 20 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of volition

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 18
See More

Popular

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
crayons-in-a-circle
Guess the Color Quiz Questions that use the whole box of crayons.
See All