sheepish
/ˈʃiːpɪʃ/adjective
sheepish is spelled S-H-E-E-P-I-S-H: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 58,063rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, sheepish means “Having the characteristics of a sheep, as meekness, shyness, or docility” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in sheepish?
| Letters | 8: S-H-E-E-P-I-S-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 58,063rd 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 sheepish?
Sheepish appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 58,063rd 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 sheepish?
- /ˈʃiːpɪʃ/
Sheepish 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)-AcpoKrane-sheepish.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of sheepish
- more sheepish comparative
- most sheepish superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sheepish mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Having the characteristics of a sheep, as meekness, shyness, or docility.
- 2
Shy, meek, ashamed or embarrassed.
a sheepish girl
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sheepish in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense shy, meek, shameful or embarrassed:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | penaud |
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 sheepish come from?
From Middle English schepische, shepisse, shepisshe; equivalent to sheep + -ish.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).