Standard Lemma guide

offish

adj · 3 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈɒfɪʃ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈɔfɪʃ/
  • General-American: /ˈɑfɪʃ/
  • /əˈfɪʃ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Aloof, standoffish.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: remote, reserved, aloof, cool, distant, frosty, hankty, hard-to-get, offish, quiet, standoffish, strange, thorny, touch-me-not-ish, unapproachable, unbending, undemonstrative, unimpressionable, uninvolved

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Clipping of official.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, colloquial

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

lacking cordiality; unfriendly

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a standoffish manner

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: standoffish

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From off + -ish.