Meanings
- not comparableSomewhat early
From outside the music was thumping, it had been Big Band jazz and now it was earlyish rock ’n’ roll, such as Rachel and Gerald might conceivably have danced to twenty-five years ago.
2004, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 12, in The Line of Beauty […], London: Picador, →ISBN1 more example
Old Jermyn sat down in his favourite chair by one of the windows overlooking Pall Mall. It was earlyish, and the big room—empty and noiseless—and lined with books between its high windows, seemed to envelop old Jermyn with velvet arms.
1927, Warwick Deeping, “28, I”, in Kitty
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivebeing somewhat early
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂ey-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂éyeri
- Proto-Germanic*airi
- Proto-Germanic*airiz
- Old Englishǣr
- Proto-Indo-European*leyg-
- Proto-Germanic*līką
- Old Englishǣrlīċe
- Middle Englisherly
- Englishearly
- Englishearlyish
Cite this entry
earlyish. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/earlyish
“earlyish.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/earlyish. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “earlyish,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/earlyish.
Source: earlyish on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.