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

1. Pronunciation spelling of is.

Etymology 2

Back-formation from -ish.

Adverb

ish (not comparable)

1. (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.

2. (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)

1. 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)

1. (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)

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

Related terms

• ishy

See also

• eesh

Etymology 6

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

Noun

ish (uncountable)

2. (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

1. to chase chicken away

Scots

Noun

ish

1. issue; liberty of going out