kittenish

[ kit-n-ish ]

adjective

1. coyly playful.
2. like or in the manner of a kitten.

kittenish

/ ˈkɪtənɪʃ /

adjective

1. like a kitten; lively
2. (of a woman) flirtatious, esp coyly flirtatious

Derived Forms

• ˈkittenishness, noun
• ˈkittenishly, adverb

Other Words From

• kitten·ish·ly adverb
• kitten·ish·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of kittenish¹

First recorded in 1745–55; kitten + -ish ¹

Example Sentences

Seductively kittenish, Gardner lives up to her profane reputation.

From Los Angeles Times

You could not call her kittenish: she was nobody’s pet, nobody’s plaything.

From Los Angeles Times

Her hair is bobbed and her hands and lower arms gloved; on her feet are kittenish, pointy, low-stilettoed black pumps.

From Salon

I was a few minutes early one week and entered the office to find Agent Samson doing her job on Garth Barclay, a slight, kittenish boy I'd met back in the fourth grade.

From Literature

All together, the vision of femininity soft girls evoke can be seen as dispiritingly retrograde – a kittenish broadcast of reductive tropes from a generation older feminists probably hoped would grow up more enlightened.

From The Guardian