assish

English

Etymology

From ass +‎ -ish.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈæsɪʃ/

Adjective

assish (comparative more assish, superlative most assish)

1. Characteristic of an ass or donkey.
   • 1850, Jeremiah Chaplin, The Riches of Bunyan:

     Further, he quickly got him a beast to ride on, far, for sumptuous glory, beyond — though as to nature as assish a creature as — that on which Balaam was wont to ride; and by this exaltation he not only became more stately, but the horns of the beast would push for him.

   • 1884, Godfrey Holden Pike, Shaftesbury: His Life and Work, page 91:

     On the 24th March, 1875, a donkey-show, which has since been continued periodically, was held in connection with Mr. Orsman's work; and on that occasion the assish celebrity COSTER, depicted in our engraving, was presented to Lord Shaftesbury by the exhibitors, amid a scene of great enthusiasm.

   • 1906, John Heywood, John Stephen Farmer, The Proverbs, Epigrams, and Miscellanies of John Heywood, page 118:

     The ape, to know whether the ass's talking Were any quicker than his assish stalking, Asked the ass, "If thou should'st choose one of both — To run as swiftly as the greyhound yonder go'th. Or turn as light as the hare — which one of twain, obtain?"

2. Stupid or obstinate; asinine.
   • c. 1795, Peter Pindar (John Wolcot), Liberty's Last Squeak

     an assish, mulish, packhorse clan

   • 1961, Horace Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden - Volume 1, page 314:

     All taffy so far, except “Sigma,” whose lucubrations make me think of dear old Gurowski's phrase of objurgation— “Sir, you are an asinine assish ass!”

   • 1985, Paul McGuire, A Funeral in Eden, page 142:

     Yet one could easily fall into a habit of thinking Thompson a bit of an ass, amiable and solemn, but still assish.

Derived terms

• assishly
• assishness

 

Anagrams

• his ass