Word.ws English Dictionary

popish

/ˈpəʊpɪʃ/US/ˈpoʊpɪʃ/

popish adjective: of or pertaining to Roman Catholicism.

Adjective (1)

popish (comparative more popish, superlative most popish)

  1. (derogatory) of or pertaining to Roman Catholicism
    • I do, therefore, much blame the petulcity of whatsoever author, that should dare to impute a Popish affection to him […]1629, Joseph Hall, The Reconciler
  2. (derogatory) acting like, or holding beliefs similar to, the pope.

Adjective (2) capitalized: Popish

Popish (comparative more Popish, superlative most Popish)

  1. Alternative letter-case form of popish.
    • When indeed a Popish monarch may fill our throne, and the successor of St. Peter shall be the spiritual head of our Church; then shall your “esoterics,” alias “Church principles,” be in the ascendant in our Universities, and Who shall say that we may not have a Thorp lecturer in each of our...1845, Clergymen of the Church of England, editors, The Christian’s Monthly Magazine and Church of England Review, volume IV, London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co., pages 364–365
    • It was an old chapel, known to his father and his father's father. The unfrescoed walls still showed faintly the outlines of Popish statuary that had stood against them long ago, and the smoke of many candles had darkened the rafters to match the color of the lowering sky outdoors.1959, Dorothy Norris Foote, The Constant Star, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner's Sons, page 58

Synonyms of popish

  • Roman Catholic § Synonyms

Forms of popish

comparativemore popish
superlativemost popish
comparativemore Popish
superlativemost Popish

Origin of popish

From pope + -ish.

Words formed from popish

Questions about popish

What does popish mean?
Popish means of or pertaining to Roman Catholicism.
What part of speech is popish?
Popish is an adjective.
How do you pronounce popish?
Popish is pronounced /ˈpəʊpɪʃ/ (UK).

Words near popish in the dictionary

  1. popinacs
  2. popinae
  3. poping
  4. popinjay
  5. popinjays
  6. popish
  7. popishly
  8. popishness
  9. popism
  10. popist
  11. popists

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: popish (page history and authors); Popish (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-popish.wav.

Cite this entry: “popish.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/popish. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.