wolfishadj.
/ˈwʊlfɪʃ/, U.S. /ˈwʊlfɪʃ/ 1.
a. Of or pertaining to a wolf or wolves.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > [adjective] > relating to a wolf
wolvish1565
wolfish1570
wolfen1810
1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Miiv/2 Wolfish, lupinus.
1687 J. Dryden Hind & Panther i. 10 The wolfish race, Appear with belly Gaunt, and famish'd face.
1690 C. Ness Compl. Hist. & Myst. Old & New Test. I. 213 Ye may beat a wolf..yet all this will not drive away his wolfish nature.
1868 Cornhill Mag. July 70 The bristles that ornamented him in his wolfish state.
1890 Temple Bar Nov. 355 So vigorously had the wolfish tribe been hunted down that only one couple survived.
b. Abounding in wolves.Apparently an isolated use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > [adjective] > relating to a wolf > abounding in or free from
wolfish1747
wolfless1893
1747 W. Collins Odes 27 Where Orcas howls, his wolfish Mountains rounding.
2.
a. Characteristic of, befitting, or resembling that of, a wolf.
ΘΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > harmfulness > savagery > [adjective]
grimlyc893
retheeOE
grim971
bitterOE
bremec1175
grillc1175
grimfula1240
cruel1297
sturdy1297
fiercea1300
fellc1300
boistousa1387
felonousc1386
savagea1393
bestiala1398
bremelya1400
felona1400
hetera1400
cursedc1400
wicked14..
vengeablec1430
wolvishc1430
unnatural?1473
inhuman1481
brutisha1513
cruent1524
felonish1530
mannish1530
abominate1531
lionish1549
boarish?1550
truculent?c1550
unhumanc1550
lion-like1556
beastly1558
orped1567
raw?1573
tigerish?1573
unmanlike1579
boisterous1581
savaged1583
tiger-like1587
yond1590
truculental1593
savage wild1595
tigerous1597
inhumane1598
Neronian1598
immane1599
Phalarical1602
ungentle1603
feral1604
savagious1605
fierceful1607
Dionysian1608
wolvy1611
Hunnish1625
lionly1631
tigerly1633
savage-hearted1639
brutal1641
feroce1641
ferocious1646
asperous1650
ferousa1652
wolfish1674
tiger1763
savage-fierce1770
Tartar1809
Tartarly1821
Neroic1851
tigery1859
Neronic1864
unmannish1867
inhumanitarian1947
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > fierceness > [adjective]
grimlyc893
wrothc893
reighOE
grima1000
grillc1175
witherc1175
grimfula1240
sturdy1297
wild1297
fiercea1300
man-keenc1300
stoutc1300
cruelc1330
fell?c1335
wicked1375
felonousc1386
felona1400
cursedc1400
runishc1400
keen?c1425
roid?c1425
wolvishc1430
ranishc1450
malicious1485
mankind1519
mannish1530
lionish1549
truculent?c1550
lion-like1556
tigerish?1573
tiger-like1587
truculental1593
Amazonian1595
tigerous1597
feral1604
fierceful1607
efferous1614
lionly1631
tigerly1633
feroce1641
ferocious1646
asperous1650
ferousa1652
blusterous1663
wolfish1674
boarisha1718
savage-fierce1770
Tartar1809
Tartarly1821
wolfy1828
savagerous1832
hawkish1841
tigery1859
attern1868
Hunnish1915
1674 Govt. Tongue viii. 146 All the wolfish designs walk under this sheeps clothing.
1750 N. Lardner Wks. (1838) III. 79 His..unsociable and wolfish disposition.
1842 C. Dickens Amer. Notes I. vi. 213 Grope your way with me into this wolfish den.
1848 E. Bulwer-Lytton Harold II. vii. v. 195 The eyes of the three men, with a fierce and a wolfish glare.
b. In sense 9b of wolf n. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > sound of instruments > [adjective] > sound of stringed instrument > type of tone
wolfish1889
ponticello1931
1889 Grove's Dict. Music IV. 89/1 Bad Tenors [sc. tenor violins] are worse than bad violins; they are unequal and ‘wolfish’.
3.
a. Resembling a wolf, wolf-like.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > [adjective] > relating to a wolf > like a wolf
wolvy1611
lupine1660
wolfish1775
1775 J. Adair Hist. Amer. Indians 259 To keep the [Indian] wolf from our own doors, by engaging him with his wolfish neighbours.
1855 J. S. C. Abbott Hist. Napoleon II. xiv. 242 Swarms of Cossacks, on fleet and wolfish horses.
b. Ravenously hungry. U.S. colloquial.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > appetite > hunger > [adjective] > hungry > extremely hungry
afingered?a1300
anhungereda1387
ahungereda1450
ravened1627
ravenous1648
gaunt1746
yird-hungry1825
wolfish1848
1842 Fraser's Mag. Dec. 652/2 My appetite was growing decidedly wolfish.]
1848 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms Wolfish, savage, savagely hungry.
1894 G. M. Fenn In Alpine Valley II. 133 I'm wolfish.
Compounds
wolfish-faced, wolfish-looking, wolfish-visaged adjs.
Π
1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe I. i. 14 A rugged wolfish-looking dog..half mastiff, half greyhound.
a1832 G. Crabbe Midnight in Compl. Poet. Wks. (1988) I. 295 Avarice..A Woolfish-Visag'd Fiend.
1851 M. Reid Scalp Hunters II. v. 76 [The animal] is wolfish-looking.
1894 B. M. Croker Village Tales (1896) 162 The wolfish-faced crowd had melted away.
Derivatives
ˈwolfishly adv.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > [adverb] > wolfishly
wolfishly1831
1831 J. Wilson in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 29 703 The Red Rover yowls wolfishly to the moon.
1843 G. Borrow Bible in Spain III. iii. 43 Wolfishly eager for booty.
ˈwolfishness n.
ΘΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > harmfulness > savagery > [noun]
rethenesseOE
grimcundleȝcc1175
fellhead1340
ferteec1380
fiercenessc1384
savagenessa1400
grimliness14..
fellnessc1410
bestialitya1413
fierceheadc1440
cruelness?a1475
inhumanity1477
bremeness?1529
fury1534
tigerness1535
bruteness1538
immanity1539
wolvishness?1548
ferity?c1550
brutishness1567
truculency1569
Phalarism1581
ferocity1606
savagerya1616
brutality1633
inhumanness1649
wolfishness1676
boarishness1682
brutism1687
truculence1727
ferociousness1766
bestialism1824
tigerhood1846
Calibanism1859
unhumanness1885
inhumanism1907
Hunnishness1914
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > fierceness > [noun]
grimcundleȝcc1175
fellhead1340
ferteec1380
fiercetya1382
fiercenessc1384
grimliness14..
fellnessc1410
fierceheadc1440
grillc1450
cruelness?a1475
tigerness1535
wolvishness?1548
ferity?c1550
truculency1569
cursedness1589
ferocity1606
wolfishness1676
boarishness1682
brutishness1683
truculence1727
ferociousness1766
tiger1825
tigerhood1846
Hunnishness1914
1676 A. Marvell Mr. Smirke sig. K2v The Wolfishness of those which..ought to have been the Christian Pastors, but went on scattering their Flocks, if not devouring.
1890 J. Pulsford Loyalty to Christ I. 205 Compare..the consummate wolfishness of Christian Europe with the simpler wolfishness of heathen nations.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1928; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.1570