Meanings
waspish1
comparative more waspish · superlative most waspish
- Suggestive of the behaviour of a wasp.
- figurativelySpiteful or irascible.
Svveet Hony-Comb, don't be ſo VVaſpiſh: […]
1702, [Colley] Cibber, She Wou’d, and She Wou’d Not, or The Kind Impostor. A Comedy. […], London: […] William Turner […], and John Nutt, […], published 1703, →OCLC, Act III, page 301 more example
Always, he radiated an air of soigné self-confidence: he could be amiable in his opinions or waspish, but he never betrayed a flicker of doubt about what he thought.
1997, Henry Louis Gates Jr., “The Passing of Anatole Broyard”, in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Man, New York: Random House, page 181
WASPish2
comparative more WASPish · superlative most WASPish
- Suggestive of the behaviour of a WASP.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivevery irritable
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
waspish · adjective
- Proto-Indo-European*webʰ-
- Proto-Indo-European*wóbʰseh₂
- Proto-Germanic*wapsō
- Proto-West Germanic*wapsu
- Old Englishwæps
- Middle Englishwasp
- Englishwasp
- Englishwaspish
Translations
Ancient Greek σφήκειος
- σφήκειος (sphḗkeios)suggestive of the behaviour of a wasp
Bulgarian ядосан, раздразнен
- ядосан (jadosan)spiteful or irascible
- раздразнен (razdraznen)spiteful or irascible
Danish giftig, hvas
- giftigspiteful or irascible
- hvasspiteful or irascible
- skarpspiteful or irascible
Finnish ampiaismainen, äkäinen
- ampiaismainensuggestive of the behaviour of a wasp
- äkäinenspiteful or irascible
French grincheux
- grincheuxspiteful or irascible
Irish colgach
- colgachspiteful or irascible
Cite this entry
waspish. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/waspish
“waspish.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/waspish. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “waspish,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/waspish.
Source: waspish on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.