Skip to main content
owlish

owlish

1 7.9
Looking serious and wise, often with big round eyes
  • adjective
  • /ˈaʊlɪʃ/
: sabio
  • With her large, owlish eyes peering over her round glasses, she always seemed wise beyond her years.
  • owlish eyes
  • owlish face
  • owlish look

Examples

  • I glanced at the two people sitting on the couch opposite: an owlish-looking young man in silver-rimmed glasses and a slim middle-aged woman.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • Still hoping that maybe she had misunderstood what was said, she stared at me with her owlish eyes, bewildered, as if looking for help.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • I have her owlish black eyes.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • The owlish father of a regulation family.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • Verid's owlish eyes looked neither right nor left, but directly faced him.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • Lucy's green eyes fixed on mine and looked owlish behind the thick lenses of her glasses.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • He wore thick-rimmed black glasses that gave him an owlish appearance.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • The kid was sitting with his chair tipped all the way back, a diffuse, bored, owlish glare on his face.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • His wan complexion and sharp features were enlivened by owlish eyes, full of warmth and intelligence, enlarged by thick glasses.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • On a snowy day in Princeton, N.J., in March 1956, a short, owlish-looking man named Kurt Gödel wrote his last letter to a dying friend.

    Blog text (17)

Synonyms

owly
vsowlish
1 8.8

Having large round eyes and watching everything quietly

focuses on a solemn, wise look rather than alertness or eye shape

Antonyms

944 1.0

Not sensible and often a little foolish

383 1.3

Not showing good sense and making unwise choices

How Solemn

solemn
  • Formal
81 4.7
grave
  • Formal
165 4.2
owlish
1 7.9
serious
∞ 1.4
playful
72 1.6

Surface Forms

owlish positive

Morphology

owlish = owl (transparent) = owl + ish

Formed by the productive suffix '-ish' on the noun 'owl' to mean 'like an owl' or 'resembling an owl', which learners can readily infer.

Etymology

The word owlish comes from owl and the ending -ish, which means 'like'. If someone has big round eyes and a calm, serious look, we might call them owlish because they seem thoughtful or 'wise'.