impish
/ˈɪmpɪʃ/adjective
impish is spelled I-M-P-I-S-H: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 79,518th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, impish means “Mischievous; of or befitting an imp” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in impish?
| Letters | 6: I-M-P-I-S-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 7 million words; the 79,518th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is impish?
Impish appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 79,518th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce impish?
- /ˈɪmpɪʃ/
Impish has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-impish.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of impish
- more impish comparative
- most impish superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does impish mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Mischievous; of or befitting an imp.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Impish in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense mischievous:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | espiègle, malicieux, mutin |
| German | schelmisch, koboldhaft, spitzbübisch |
| Portuguese | levado, travesso |
| Spanish | pícaro, travieso |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does impish come from?
From imp + -ish.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).