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Glite Dictionary
offish

offish

1 8.2
Not friendly and avoids talking to other people
  • adjective
  • /ˈɔːfɪʃ/
translation icon : distante
  • Well, just unbutton the blouse a little and unzip the pants, show a little bit offish, I think you can figure it out.
  • stand-offish

Examples

  • Oh, I'm sorry I acted a bit offish.

    The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1968)

  • Still I smell offish!

    The Beach (2000)

  • When she first joined the team, her offish demeanor made it hard for others to get to know her.

  • His offish behavior at the party made many guests feel uncomfortable and reluctant to engage in conversation.

  • Despite his talent, he often came across as offish, which kept potential friends at a distance.

Synonyms

distant
vsoffish
61 4.9

Not friendly or warm, behaving in a quiet, cold way

is reserved and unwilling to mix rather than merely remote
aloof
vsoffish
34 6.3

Not friendly and distant, not joining in with other people

is reserved and prefers only limited social mixing
standoffish
vsoffish
9 7.1

Not friendly and keeping a distance from others

is reserved and reluctant to mix rather than openly refusing contact
unapproachable
vsoffish
3 6.6

Not friendly and hard to talk to so people avoid them

is reserved without actively discouraging others from approaching

Antonyms

friendly
773 1.0

Kind and helpful toward other people

sociable
21 1.6

Enjoying being with other people and making friends

How Reserved

aloof
34 6.3
offish
1 8.2
reserved
3.7
polite
329 1.0
friendly
773 1.0

Surface Forms

offish positive

Morphology

offish = off (transparent) = off + ish

Meaning is directly formed from 'off' + the adjectival suffix '-ish', yielding a sense of being somewhat distant or aloof.

Etymology

The word offish comes from off meaning 'away' and the ending -ish that makes something 'a little' or 'like' that way, just like in standoffish. So an offish person seems 'away' from others and not friendly.