sheepish

S1H4E1E1P3I1S1H4
/ˈʃiːpɪʃ/

adjective

Having the characteristics of a sheep, as meekness, shyness, or docility.

“a sheepish girl”

Similar
sheeplikedocileshamefacedashamed
OriginMiddle English schepische →
UncommonScrabble 16
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Meanings

adjectivesheepish (comparative more sheepish, superlative most sheepish)

comparative more sheepish · superlative most sheepish

  1. Having the characteristics of a sheep, as meekness, shyness, or docility.

    “King Ty? Your sister is back.” “I don't want to talk to her unless she's here to apologize. Does she look sheepish?” “I guess I've seen a sheep in a cage before, so, yeah, kind of.”

    2025 May 11, Monica Padrick, “Don Tyxote” (15:04 from the start), in Krapopolis, season 2, episode 21, spoken by Tyrannis (Richard Ayoade)
  2. Shy, meek, ashamed or embarrassed.

    a sheepish girl

    1 more example

    a sheepish grin

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivelike or suggestive of a sheep in docility or stupidity or meekness or timidity

Similar
sheeplikedocile

adjectiveshowing a sense of shame

Similar
shamefacedashamed
Also see
ashamedbashfuldocileovineshamefacedsheeplikesheepyshy

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Middle Englishschepische
  2. Englishsheepish

From Middle English schepische, shepisse, shepisshe; equivalent to sheep + -ish.

More words from Middle English

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek οἴεος
  • οἴεος (oíeos)having the characteristics of a sheep
Bulgarian овчи, стеснителен
  • овчи (ovči)having the characteristics of a sheep
  • стеснителен (stesnitelen)shy, meek, shameful or embarrassed
  • смутен (smuten)shy, meek, shameful or embarrassed
Danish fåret, fåret
  • fårethaving the characteristics of a sheep
  • fåretshy, meek, shameful or embarrassed
  • flovshy, meek, shameful or embarrassed
Dutch schaapachtig, schaapachtig
  • schaapachtighaving the characteristics of a sheep
  • schaapachtigshy, meek, shameful or embarrassed
Finnish lammasmainen
  • lammasmainenhaving the characteristics of a sheep
French penaud
  • penaudshy, meek, shameful or embarrassed
Greek πρόβειος, ντροπαλός
  • πρόβειος (próveios)having the characteristics of a sheep
  • ντροπαλός (ntropalós)shy, meek, shameful or embarrassed
Italian pecorino, pecoresco
  • pecorinohaving the characteristics of a sheep
  • pecorescohaving the characteristics of a sheep
  • pecorilehaving the characteristics of a sheep
Latin ovīnus
  • ovīnushaving the characteristics of a sheep
Māori whakakumu
  • whakakumushy, meek, shameful or embarrassed
Polish owczy, zawstydzony
  • owczyhaving the characteristics of a sheep
  • zawstydzonyshy, meek, shameful or embarrassed
  • zakłopotanyshy, meek, shameful or embarrassed
  • zmieszanyshy, meek, shameful or embarrassed
Romanian bleg, sfială
  • blegshy, meek, shameful or embarrassed
  • sfialăshy, meek, shameful or embarrassed
  • sfiosshy, meek, shameful or embarrassed
  • sfioasăshy, meek, shameful or embarrassed
  • jenăshy, meek, shameful or embarrassed
Russian ове́чий, ро́бкий
  • ове́чий (ovéčij)having the characteristics of a sheep
  • ро́бкий (róbkij)shy, meek, shameful or embarrassed
  • засте́нчивый (zasténčivyj)shy, meek, shameful or embarrassed
Scottish Gaelic nàireach
  • nàireachshy, meek, shameful or embarrassed
Swedish fåraktig, fåraktig
  • fåraktighaving the characteristics of a sheep
  • fåraktigshy, meek, shameful or embarrassed
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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