donnish
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- donnishly adverb
- donnishness noun
- donnism noun
Etymology
Origin of donnish
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
During a long, donnish life he also found time to co-write the only dictionary for Krio, the lingua franca of Sierra Leone.
From Economist • Feb. 1, 2018
I think when I meet those arguments I tend to become a bit donnish, perhaps slightly finger-wagging.
From BBC • May 31, 2017
In fact, this biography reads like two books: one an intelligent, even donnish work of criticism that connects the poems to the life, the other a sensationalistic anthology of gossip and subdued malice.
From Washington Post • Oct. 6, 2015
Although some readers found these asides a little donnish, the dispensation of particulars achieved a sensuous flow: you could go swimming in Porter’s omniscience.
From The New Yorker • Apr. 4, 2015
I thought that he was affecting the poet, and in me he found a donnish affectation of the British sportsman.
From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 1 (of 25) by Lang, Andrew
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
