impish

comparative more impish · superlative most impish

1. Mischievous; of or befitting an imp.

   "That's true, I did," Kate admitted, with an impish grin. "How did it look?"

   2007, Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society, page 231

   3 more examples

   Wild-eyed youngsters they were, with matted hair and little broad-nosed impish faces, covered (as some children are covered even nowadays) with a delicate down of hair.

   1897, H. G. Wells, chapter 1, in A Story of the Stone Age, archived from the original on 09 Mar 2012

   But the antics of Mr. Moore, though impish and impudent, are, after all, so amusing and so graceful that the governess, it is said, sometimes hides behind a tree to watch.

   1942, Virginia Woolf, chapter 20, in The Death of the Moth, and other essays, archived from the original on 24 Feb 2011

   As per the old Jewish joke “ask two Jews, get three opinions”, there’s room on this seven-strong bill (plus [Hannah] Gadsby) for at least that many different perspectives on gender – including some impish scepticism from Canadian comic DeAnne Smith, who complains about “getting they/them’d against my will since 2005”.

   2023 October 13, Brian Logan, “‘We’re all learning’: why Netflix needs Hannah Gadsby’s Gender Agenda”, in The Guardian

   Synonyms: implike, mischievous, pixilated, prankish, puckish