mannish

/ˈmæn.ɪʃ/

//ˈmæn.ɪʃ// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"mannish" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“mannish” is uncommon English (frequency #85,483 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#85,483
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Resembling or characteristic of a man, masculine.

Corpus desk

Index EN-mannish · mannish · English

mannish · rank #85,483 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #85,483
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH mansa

Nearest frequency peer: mansa (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “mannish”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “mannish” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for mannish
PropertyValue
Headwordmannish
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈmæn.ɪʃ/
Letters7
Frequency rank#85,483
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “mannish” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).mannishfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “mansa” (#85,484), “Mansi” (#85,485), “Maler” (#85,480). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “mannish” is #85,483. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

mannish is uncommon English at frequency #85,483 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈmæn.ɪʃ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.

mannish has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English mannish, mannisshe, mannysh, from earlier mennish (“human”), from Old English mennisċ (“human, natural, humane”), from Proto-West Germanic *mannisk, from Proto-Germanic *manniskaz (“human”). By surface analysis, man + -ish. Doublet of me… The correct English form is mannish, spelled M-A-N-N-I-S-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    Resembling or characteristic of a man, masculine.
  2. 2
    Resembling or characteristic of a grown man (as opposed to a boy); mature, adult.
  3. 3
    Impertinent; assertive.
  4. 4
    Precocious.
  5. 5
    Resembling or characteristic of a human being, in form or nature; human.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how mannish appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. A woman impudent and mannish grown Is not more loathed than an effeminate man In time of action.
  2. She detested the look of herself in large goggles, detested being forced to tie on her hat, detested the heavy, mannish coat of rough tweed that Sir Philip insisted she must wear when motoring.

Etymology

From Middle English mannish, mannisshe, mannysh, from earlier mennish (“human”), from Old English mennisċ (“human, natural, humane”), from Proto-West Germanic *mannisk, from Proto-Germanic *manniskaz (“human”). By surface analysis, man + -ish. Doublet of mennish, mense, and mensch.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "mannish"?
"mannish" is spelled M-A-N-N-I-S-H. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmæn.ɪʃ/.
What does "mannish" mean?
As an adjective, "mannish" means: Resembling or characteristic of a man, masculine.
How do you pronounce "mannish"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mannish" is /ˈmæn.ɪʃ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "mannish"?
From Middle English mannish, mannisshe, mannysh, from earlier mennish (“human”), from Old English mennisċ (“human, natural, humane”), from Proto-West Germanic *mannisk, from Proto-Germanic *manniskaz (“human”). By surface analysis, man + -ish. Dou... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
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Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "mannish", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Liebman#85,454Midgley#85,521Ledecky#85,443laugher#85,440

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list