donnish [ don-ish ]
adjective
1. resembling or characteristic of a university don; bookish; pedantic.
RELATED FORMS
don·nish·ly, adverb
don·nish·ness, noun
don·nism, noun
RELATED WORDS
pompous, stilted, abstruse, academic, arid, didactic, doctrinaire, dry, dull, egotistic, erudite, formal, fussy, hairsplitting, learned, ostentatious, particular, pedagogic, priggish, punctilious
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Origin: First recorded in 1825–35; don + -ish
EXAMPLES FROM THE WEB FOR DONNISH
I thought that he was affecting the poet, and in me he found a donnish affectation of the British sportsman.
THE WORKS OF ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON - SWANSTON EDITION|ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
He had known dons at Oxford, and placed Lady Latimer in the donnish caste: that was all.
THE VICISSITUDES OF BESSIE FAIRFAX|HARRIET PARR
Sheffield said he liked people to be natural, and hated that donnish manner.
LOSS AND GAIN|JOHN HENRY NEWMAN
I do not know whether I am donnish with him, or if I bullied him too much when he was little; but he is always counter to me.
THE PILLARS OF THE HOUSE, VOL. I (OF 2)|CHARLOTTE M. YONGE
Never were dons of the donnish sort more brilliantly twitted than by young Belloc.
SHANDYGAFF|CHRISTOPHER MORLEY
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