Heepishly

H4E1E1P3I1S1H4L1Y4

adverb

In a cloying, insincerely obsequious manner.

Scrabble 20

Meanings

adverbHeepishly (comparative more Heepishly, superlative most Heepishly)

comparative more Heepishly · superlative most Heepishly

  1. In a cloying, insincerely obsequious manner.

    Rupert did express shame and contrition, however gruffly, ineptly and Heepishly: 'This is the most humble day of my life.'

    2012, Piers Brendon, Eminent Elizabethans: Rupert Murdoch, Prince Charles, Margaret Thatcher & Mick Jagger, Random House, page 61
    2 more examples

    Why should he take a sort of imbecile and morbid satisfaction, in appearing in the public chronicles of the day, under the depreciating, and, as it appears to us, ‘ Heep’-ishly ‘ umble ’ title of ‘ a small clergyman ?’

    1864 July, “The Adventures of a Lady in Search of a Horse”, in London Society, volume VI, number XXXII, page 5

    They're the ones slavering like Wile E. Coyote over that low-fat commissary quesadilla, or Heepishly dry-washing their red little hands while they pore over next month's studio spread sheet.

    1996 August, Jeff MacGregor, “The Big O”, in Los Angeles Magazine, page 57

Origin

From Heepish + -ly: From the Dickens character Uriah Heep, noted for his cloying humility, obsequiousness, and insincerity, the stereotypical yes man.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Heepishly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Heepishly

MLA

“Heepishly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Heepishly. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Heepishly,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Heepishly.

Source: Heepishly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.