bookish
Americanadjective
-
given or devoted to reading or study.
-
more acquainted with books than with real life.
-
of or relating to books; literary.
-
stilted; pedantic.
- Synonyms:
- scholastic, academic
adjective
-
fond of reading; studious
-
consisting of or forming opinions or attitudes through reading rather than direct personal experience; academic
a bookish view of life
-
of or relating to books
a bookish career in publishing
Other Word Forms
- bookishly adverb
- bookishness noun
- nonbookish adjective
- nonbookishly adverb
- nonbookishness noun
- overbookish adjective
- overbookishly adverb
- overbookishness noun
- unbookish adjective
- unbookishly adverb
- unbookishness noun
Etymology
Origin of bookish
Explanation
Someone bookish likes books a lot. They're either studious or always seem to be reading. Some people don't like studying. Others like studying a lot: it seems like their head is always in a book. Someone like that can be called bookish, because they are reading books all the time. Being bookish can mean someone is studious: an honors student is likely very bookish. Being bookish can also mean someone just enjoys reading. People in a book club are definitely bookish. This is a word for devoted readers.
Vocabulary lists containing bookish
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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.
Thomas Harris grew up in the South as a bookish outcast, reading the works of Ernest Hemingway and Jonathan Swift.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 2, 2026
Eventually I left for university, where I found my own tribe of bookish girls.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026
His carefully rehearsed lines and bookish glasses earned him the unwelcome nickname of "Robot Jetten" in his early career.
From Barron's • Feb. 23, 2026
It’s a simplistic vision of the world that could appeal to and be well understood by bookish children like me.
From Slate • Jan. 14, 2026
But he did manage to hire a tutor for Laertes, a bookish, black-capped man.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
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.
