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 waggish The waggish jeer that subverts the Reich Chancellery, designed by Adolf Hitler's chief architect, Albert Speer, must have sent the woman who chastises children for flatulent folly into a tizzy. Natasha Gural, Forbes, 12 Jan. 2025 After publishing a New York Times piece about grieving her late husband, the waggish writer received an email from a kindly old acquaintance who was also recently widowed. Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 24 Oct. 2024 He’s left a distinctive stamp on the orchestra’s sound in the years since, whether declaiming the beginning of Mahler 5 with a preacher’s conviction or, as in a recent Ravinia concert, tossing off a ragtime solo with waggish virtuosity. Hannah Edgar, Chicago Tribune, 5 Aug. 2024 Foreman’s own work was waggish, so the Off Off Broadway Wooster production is frequently tongue-in-cheek. Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2024 Trendy, vapid Chazelle sentimentalized a token Mexican immigrant in Babylon, but Jordan and waggish co-screenwriter William Monahan, who scripted Scorsese’s The Departed, plays with ethnicity (those Irish mugs, Lange’s perfect brogue, and Cumming’s perfect Southern twang). Armond White, National Review, 17 Feb. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for waggish
Adjective
  • Tengbjerg, a fifty-one-year-old former pro soccer player from Denmark, is fit and trim, with a mischievous, no-nonsense brusqueness not generally associated with massage therapists.
    Sarah Larson, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025
  • Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude is run by the virulent and mischievous Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin).
    Esther Zuckerman, Time, 8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Both are wicked smart brainiacs on a tireless quest to do good in the world.
    Natasha Stoynoff, PEOPLE, 7 Sep. 2025
  • As the mystery unravels from multiple POVs, Alex’s kooky aunt Gladys (Amy Madigan) is revealed as the orchestrator of the tragedy — her fiery orange hair, nimble fingers, ghostly face and wicked crimson smile a memorable image that haunts the narrative.
    Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Like sparkling citrus that feels like late-summer light, warm vanilla and orchard tones for autumn’s cozy neutrals, and playful gourmand notes that give glossy, indulgent energy.
    Allure Editors, Allure, 10 Sep. 2025
  • Known for vibrant color, upcycled materials, and a playful yet political spirit, his work captures the joy and resilience of migration stories.
    Karissa Mitchell, Essence, 10 Sep. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Podcast

Cite this Entry

“Waggish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/waggish. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on waggish

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!