Standard Lemma guide

coltishness

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

The quality of resembling a colt, especially:

The quality of being lively, playful and undisciplined.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: abandon, exuberance, friskiness, spirit, spiritedness

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The quality of resembling a colt, especially:

The quality of being tall, thin and awkward (usually of a young person).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • 1952, Agatha Christie (as Mary Westmacott), A Daughter’s a Daughter, New York: Dell, 1976, Book 2, Chapter 1, p. 111, Laura Whitstable was struck by her beauty. The awkward touch of coltishness had gone, she was now a remarkably attractive young woman, with a quite unusual loveliness of face and form.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: gangliness

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From coltish + -ness.