Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Characteristic of or resembling a wag; jocular or witty.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Like a wag; abounding in sportive or jocular tricks, antics, sayings, etc.; roguish in merriment or good humor; frolicsome.
  • Done, concocted, or manifested in waggery or sport: as, a waggish trick; “waggish good humor,”

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Like a wag; mischievous in sport; roguish in merriment or good humor; frolicsome.
  • adjective Done, made, or laid in waggery or for sport; sportive; humorous.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective witty, jocular, like a wag
  • adjective mischievous, tricky

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective witty or joking

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From wag (“waghalter, rogue”) +‎ -ish.

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Examples

  • Mrs. Dickinson, presently "coming up with" Rosamund's party, became absolutely "waggish" (the Dean's expression), and made Rosamund laugh with that almost helpless spontaneity which is the greatest compliment to a joke.

    In the Wilderness Robert Smythe Hichens 1907

  • [This is the kind of waggish editorial O. Henry was writing in 1894 for the readers of _The Rolling Stone_.

    Rolling Stones O. Henry 1886

  • County Sin Rankings [1] takes a somewhat waggish approach to doing so.

    A Progressive on the Prairie » Scoring the seven deadly sins county by county » Print 2010

  • Lens won't stray from waggish TNT trio of Barkley, Smith and Johnson - USATODAY. com

    Lens won't stray from waggish TNT trio of Barkley, Smith and Johnson 2010

  • County Sin Rankings takes a somewhat waggish approach to doing so.

    Scoring the seven deadly sins county by county « A Progressive on the Prairie 2010

  • Mr. Hughes, who offers a popular history of Rome and Roman art from antiquity to the present, finds himself more or less forced into the waggish incredulity of so many Anglo-Saxon writers at the bizarre annals of the papacy's temporal power.

    The Heirloom City Dan Hofstadter 2011

  • All this time Id been anticipating Id die f! rom something interesting, similar to a black hole caused by a Hadron Collider, or a little waggish accident involving super-heated marshmallow goo as good as inter-dimensional gods.

    Archive 2009-12-01 admin 2009

  • Lens won't stray from waggish TNT trio of Barkley, Smith and Johnson

    Lens won't stray from waggish TNT trio of Barkley, Smith and Johnson 2010

  • All this time Id been anticipating Id die f! rom something interesting, similar to a black hole caused by a Hadron Collider, or a little waggish accident involving super-heated marshmallow goo as good as inter-dimensional gods.

    Nevermore: Welcome to Baltimore admin 2009

  • Certainly almost all the best English wine writers seem to have begun life as wine merchants, including such late luminaries as André Simon (a prolific writer for whom a prestigious wine book prize is named) and Harry Waugh (a waggish one who famously described a 1961 Château Latour as simply a wine with "lots of color and bags of fruit"—this was, long before the two-paragraph tasting note).

    What to Read With a Good Beaujolais Lettie Teague 2011

Comments

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  • So, so! you are the man! pursued he with a waggish sort of leer, you know how to -- tickle the -- fancies of the ladies! Four and twenty hours only have you been in Burgos, and marchionesses, I warrant you, have surrendered at the first summons!

    - Lesage, The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane, tr. Smollett, bk 1 ch. 15

    September 12, 2008