babish
/ˈbeɪb.ɪʃ/
babish adjective: like a babe; childish; babyish.
Adjective
babish (comparative more babish, superlative most babish)
- Like a babe; childish; babyish.
- Spoons, you know, are to feed us with weak and thin food, even with that which best suiteth with weak stomachs, or with a babish temper.1782–1784? [17th century], The Whole Works of that Eminent Servant of Christ, the late Reverend and much Esteemed Mr. John Bunyan, London: printed for the proprietors, and published by Alex. Hogg, at...
- For, if a young gentleman be demure and still of mature, they say he is simple and lacketh wit; if he be bashful, and will soon blush, they call him a babish and ill brought up thing;1864, Roger Ascham, The Whole Works of Roger Ascham, page 125
Verb
babish (third-person singular simple present babishes, present participle babishing, simple past and past participle babished)
- To make or treat as babish.
- The Pharisees had babished the simple people with fained and colde religion, and had tangled theyr consciences with.late 16th century, John Udall, Richardson
- The truth is, what with passing those hard years of Mary's reign in obscurity, without all conference or such manner of study as now might do me service, and what with my natural viciosity of overmuch shamefastness, I am so babished in myself, that I cannot raise up my heart and stomach to utter in...1563, Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury, Letter to Sir William Cecil
Examples of babish in a sentence
- The rot of schools Of medieval time Is Christmas, a pleasing mime To babish minds, Its tinsel blinds The eyes of Thought, 'Tis rot, rot, all rot; And not for me !1919, Charles Louis Henry Wagner, Cradled Moons: A Book of Poems, page 233:
- Thay excusyd hir thus, sothly, To make hir clene of hir foly, And babished me that was old.2012, “The Annunciation”, in David Bevington, editor, Medieval Drama, page 365:
Forms of babish
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more babish |
| superlative | most babish |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | babishes |
| present participle | babishing |
| past participle | babished |
| past | babished |
Origin of babish
From babe + -ish.
Words formed from babish
Questions about babish
- What does babish mean?
- Babish means like a babe; childish; babyish.
- How do you use babish in a sentence?
- The rot of schools Of medieval time Is Christmas, a pleasing mime To babish minds, Its tinsel blinds The eyes of Thought, 'Tis rot, rot, all rot; And not for me !
- What part of speech is babish?
- Babish can be an adjective or a verb.
- How do you pronounce babish?
- Babish is pronounced /ˈbeɪb.ɪʃ/.
Words near babish in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: babish (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “babish.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/babish. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.