ish

See also: Ish, ISH, ish-, -ish, and -ísh

English

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɪʃ/
- Audio (Southern England): (file)
Rhymes: -ɪʃ

Etymology 1

From is.

Verb

ish

Pronunciation spelling of is.

Etymology 2

Back-formation from -ish.

Adverb

ish (not comparable)

(colloquial) somewhat, reasonably, fairly
The exam went well... mostly... ish.

"Was the film any good?" – "Ish."
- 26 May 2012, Jason VandenBerghe, “The Five Domains of Play”, Gotland Game Conference, Uppsala University:
  This is where I started. Does Hermione like Dark Souls? Ish.
(colloquial) about, approximately
- 1974, Kingsley Amis, Ending up, page 11:
  'With luck, about twelve.' 'Ah,' said Bernard. 'Twelve-thirty. Ish.'
- 2007, Marne Davis Kellogg, Friends in High Places, page 283:
  How old are you? Fifty-ish?" / "Ish." / The color flared in her cheeks but she didn't look as though she were going to shoot me.
- 2021 May, “Bogey”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):
  (episode 38 of Manifest)
  Eagen: "Don't blame Little House on the Prairie. I was very charming."
  Angelina: "Did you lie about being an orphan too?"
  Eagen: "Ish."

Usage notes

Like the suffix, the adverb is used only after the adjective it modifies, and never before.

Synonyms

(somewhat): fairly, rather, somewhat
(approximately): about, almost, around, close to, loosely, near, nearly, roughly, round about

Translations

reasonably, somewhat, (fairly)

Czech: jakž takž
Finnish: -hko (fi), -hkö (fi)
German: halbwegs (de), etwas (de), mehr oder weniger

about, approximately

Finnish: noin (fi)
French: approximativement (fr), à peu près (fr)
German: in etwa, rund (de), ungefähr (de)

Etymology 3

From Pitman ess and eff, which it resembles phonetically and graphically, and the sound it represents. The change in vowel probably reflects the familiar suffix -ish.

Noun

ish (plural ishes)

The letter which stands for the sh sound /ʃ/ in Pitman shorthand.

Related terms

esh, the IPA letter for the same sound
zhee

Etymology 4

Phonetic spelling of the clipping of issue.

Noun

ish (plural ishes)

(dated, fandom slang) An instalment of a periodical; an issue.
- 1939 August 5, "Bob" Tucker, Le Zombie‎^[1], number 10, page 3:
  "A LITTLE UNPLEASANTNESS" DEPT: Fantasy Digest says in it's^[sic] latest ish: Quote: Some unpleasantness was caused when Don Wollheim and his brother Futurians were not allowed in the Convention Hall. Unquote.
- 1961 July, George H. Scithers, Amra, volume 2, number 16, page 2:
  Next ish: a guide to who is who of the Howard heroes in the centerspread.
- 1967 June, Drake Maynard, If, volume 17, number 6, page 160:
  My sincerest apologies to Brother Ron Smith in the December ish.

Derived terms

annish
thish

Etymology 5

Interjection

ish (comparative more ish, superlative most ish)

(informal, Canada, US, regional) ick, yuck

Related terms

ishy

Etymology 6

From earlier isht, a minced oath metathetic alteration of shit.

Noun

ish (uncountable)

(euphemistic) Shit (in various senses).
- 2010, Jill Murray, Break On Through, page 15:
  Anyone, really, but seriously, you'd think that people whose very passion depends on their lungs would want to cut that ish out
- 2012, Dipal Parikh, Walking with Krishna: Based on True Life Events, page 154:
  I owe you a lot Dipal, so put that ish away.
- 2013, Ivy McQuain, Get Your Head Out of the Clouds, This Is Business, page 25:
  Now, it's time to get your ish together.
- 2015, Ni-Ni Simone, Amir Abrams, Lights, Love & Lip Gloss, page 51:
  I passed on that craziness. I wasn't messing with that ish.

References

(Periodical): Jeff Prucher, editor (2007), “ish”, in Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction, Oxford, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, pages 101–102.
(Periodical): Jesse Sheidlower, editor (2001–2024), “ish n.”, in Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction.

Anagrams

His, Hsi, IHS, Shi, his, shi

Albanian

Alternative forms

ush

Etymology

Onomatopoeic.

Verb

ish

to chase chicken away

Scots

Noun

ish

issue; liberty of going out