impish

Only he kept mounting higher and higher, till at last his impish tormentors -- _impish_, I said -- dared follow him no farther.

Children of the Wild Charles George Douglas Roberts 1901

What we have called the impish daring and resource of Cochrane is shown in this strange fight.

Deeds that Won the Empire Historic Battle Scenes 1886

Best known as the impish Master of Ceremonies from "Cabaret"-Walter Kerr described him, in 1966, as "sin on a string"-Grey is still, at seventy-nine, one of Broadway's most beloved character actors.

The New Yorker newyorker.com 2011

Hassett, an intelligent man and under-stated captain, used to be dubbed impish, and it fitted him.

Sport news, comment and results | guardian.co.uk 2009

Mr. Baron, for whom the word "impish" must have been coined, built up his production gradually, starting at 300 or so cases and now holding steady at about 4,000.

Stalking the Wines of Washington 2010

Stanley Cavell sees (hears) Poe's prose as "a parody's of philosophy's" (111) in just this respect, its iterative paranoia and "impish" wordplay as the mad antithesis of any overcome skepticism about the credited and signified world.

Notes on 'Phonemanography: Romantic to Victorian' 2008

I noted early on Jeffress often has a kind of impish jocularity with a William H. Macy face.

Pachacutec: Patrick Fitzgerald's Closing Argument 2008

This trick invested his handsome face with a kind of impish fastidiousness.

The Nursing Home Murder Marsh, Ngaio, 1899-1982 1963

As they neared the entrance to the ball room she paused a moment with a new kind of impish smile.

The Head of the House of Coombe Frances Hodgson Burnett 1886

As they neared the entrance to the ballroom she paused with a new kind of impish smile.

Robin Frances Hodgson Burnett 1886