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tomboyish

tomboyish

1 6.0
A girl who likes rough, active play, for example climbing trees or playing sports
  • adjective
  • /ˈtɑmˌbɔɪɪʃ/
: niña tomboy
  • She was a tomboyish girl who loved climbing trees and playing soccer during recess.
  • tomboyish girl
  • tomboyish style
  • tomboyish way

Examples

  • She hadn't changed: the same mischievous, slightly slanting eyes, the same ears sticking out even from under her new long hairdo—in general, the same tomboyish air.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • As the woman moved into the cabin with athletic grace, Frances noted with a pang that she was slender and dark-haired, and, with a sharper pang, young and attractive in a tomboyish way.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • Her mother was tomboyish at her age, and that was fine with me.

  • Thank God for all the bookish boys and all the tomboyish girls out there.

  • Flapper style arose during the 1920s, when women became more rebellious and more tomboyish.

    Blog text (16)
  • McCaleb always thought Jaye Winston was attractive in a tomboyish way.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • I really liked the fact that this was a feisty, even tomboyish Cinderella who went riding, played pranks on the prince, and forced him to accept her on her own conditions.

    Blog text (3)
  • Although she looks much more tomboyish than Jody and a year or two younger, she is still quite cute and curvy, just lacking a bit in self-confidence when it comes to boys.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • By the end of a year, Isabel, a tall, wiry, tomboyish-looking girl, had become the gang's leader and a challenge to other gang leaders in the area.

    Academic text (1998)
  • In comparison with the soft porcelain femininity of her roommate, she was mildly tomboyish with short dark hair, a Mediterranean olive complexion, and an athletic build.

    Fiction book (2001)

Synonyms

boyish
vstomboyish
25 3.0

Like a young boy in look or behavior, showing innocence and being playful

is more about energetic rough play rather than gentle charm
boylike
vstomboyish
1 4.8

Having the playful, lively, and innocent ways of a boy

focuses on lively rough play and physical games rather than innocence
schoolboyish
vstomboyish
1 7.2

Being playful and a little naughty like a young child

is more about energetic rough outdoor play rather than childish mischief
hoydenish
vstomboyish
  • Offensive
1 9.9

A girl who behaves loudly and roughly like a tomboy

is energetic and fond of active games rather than wildness

Antonyms

148 3.4

Having style or qualities people often connect with women

14 5.0

Polite and calm in the way a woman with good manners acts

How Energetic

boisterous
18 4.7
energetic
88 1.6
tomboyish
1 6.0
playful
72 1.6
calm
680 1.0

Surface Forms

tomboyish positive

Morphology

tomboyish = tomboy (transparent) = tomboy + ish

The adjective is formed by adding the productive suffix '-ish' to the clear noun 'tomboy', yielding 'having qualities of a tomboy', which a typical learner can derive.

Etymology

Tomboyish comes from tomboy, which itself is a simple blend of the common name Tom and boy; tomboy came to mean a girl who acts like a boy. The ending -ish means 'like', so tomboyish means 'like a tomboy' or 'showing boy-like behavior'.