tomboyishadj.
/ˈtɒmbɔɪɪʃ/, U.S. /ˈtɑmˌbɔɪɪʃ/ Of, relating to, or characteristic of a tomboy; that is or resembles a tomboy.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > child > girl > [adjective] > boyish girl
tomboy1657
tomboyish1851
tomboyful1886
1851 R. Bulwer-Lytton Miriam Sedley I. ix. 177 I, on account of my..Tom-boyish habits, was made to look still more brazen.
1862 C. M. Yonge Countess Kate iv. 62 A child..completely tom-boyish except for a certain timidity.
1887 ‘E. Lyall’ Knight-errant II. ix. 214 Molly was a rather tomboyish young person of fourteen.
1933 Broadway Brevities 24 Apr. 15/1 The tomboyish, bright-eyed miss whose bubbling energy and fiery personality had put her on top of the heap.
1974 B. Took & M. Feldman Round the Horne 93 Gone the cumbersome helmet and in its place a cheeky tomboyish little number in pink velour.
2005 L. Leblanc Pretty in Punk v. 152 I tend to be real tomboyish.
Derivatives
ˈtomboyishly adv.
ΚΠ
1886 Illustr. London News 11 Sept. 270/2 She..used to romp most tom-boyishly with the conqueror and captive of the earth.
1982 J. Updike Bech is Back 125 Tomboyishly she..wads the drenched nylon and chucks it overhand into one of the UFO-like trash barrels.
2008 A. Williams Deep Freeze of Bartholomew Tullock 3 Eleven years old and tomboyishly scruffy in her worn dark trousers and brother's too-big shirt.
ˈtomˌboyishness n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > child > girl > [noun] > boyish girl > state of being
tomboyism1848
tomboyishness1858
1858 Southern Lit. Messenger July 31/1 Sally Magann is the unpleasant, nay, the intolerable mean between the extremes, tom-boyishness and old-maidism.
1883 L. Wingfield Abigel Rowe III. vii. 130 Under the roughness and tomboyishness was a heart of real gold.
2015 Daily Tel. 13 Oct. 23/2 When Alfie was eight, he told Cathy he was a boy in a girl's body, but she put it down to tomboyishness.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, January 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1851