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Glite Dictionary
monkish

monkish

1 8.7
Being simple and strict in life like a monk
  • adjective
  • /ˈmʌŋkɪʃ/
: monástico
  • It's also a little bit monkish, which is great because monks are wise, and some of them make scotch.

And, and there is, I mean, there is this kind of monkish belief in him.

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Examples

  • Moderation, yes; monkish abstinence and abnegation, no.

    Academic text (2000)

  • The atmosphere is one of hushed, almost monkish engagement, like the reading room of a great library.

  • So I want to talk about that because he really did live a, a monkish life in the classic sense.

  • And, and there is, I mean, there is this kind of monkish belief in him.

    Chris Williamson

  • The furniture was simple, square, monkish.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • But I was close to despair, and this feeling, along with his monkish robes and affable manner, overcame any instinct of caution.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • By 1794, however, he lived alone and monkish in a small house in Baltimore, and by 1804 he was buried in an unmarked grave in a Virginia pasture.

    Academic text (2001)

  • To walk into the main gallery was to encounter a meditative environment that seemed austere and monkish.

  • By his own admission, McCarroll is short-tempered, a man happiest living a private, monkish life, a man better with children than adults.

Synonyms

monastic
vsmonkish
10 7.9

Relating to life in a monastery with simple rules and little contact with others

focuses more on personal austerity and self-denial than on communal rules or institution
monklike
vsmonkish
1 7.4

A person who lives simply and quietly with little social contact

is a general trait of austerity and self-denial rather than a specific life form
hermitic
vsmonkish
1 9.9

Living alone and simply, often for religious or spiritual reasons

matches austerity but stresses being alone rather than belonging to a community
hermitlike
vsmonkish
1 7.5

Prefers to live alone and avoids other people

shares austerity but refers to solitary seclusion rather than communal discipline
monastical
vsmonkish
  • Archaic
9.9

A quiet, simple religious life with prayer and few possessions

emphasises personal austerity and self-denial rather than institutional communal practice
hermitical
vsmonkish
9.9

Living alone and quietly for religious or spiritual reasons, like a monk

overlaps in austerity but denotes solitary life instead of communal living

How Monkish

ascetic
4 8.7
austere
2 7.8
monkish
1 8.7
simple
201 1.0

Surface Forms

monkish positive

Morphology

monkish = monk (transparent) = monk + ish

The word 'monkish' is transparently derived from 'monk' with the suffix '-ish', indicating a characteristic or resemblance.

Etymology

Monkish comes from monk, which goes back to the Greek root monos meaning 'alone'. So something monkish is 'like a monk', quiet, strict and living simply because monks often live apart and avoid luxury.