1
as in girlish
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2
as in tomboyish
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Recent Examples of boyish
It may be masked by his refinement, hidden behind his boyish Christmas-morning smile.
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Marcus Thompson Ii, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2026
Perhaps the first big style shift of the psychoanalytic era came in the years after the First World War, with the rise of androgynous looks typified by the boyish profile of the flapper.
—Leslie Jamison, New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2025
Yet the boyish enthusiasm and goofiness that chess fans had come to know from his commentary and YouTube videos was no longer evident.
—Jordan Himelfarb, Time, 15 Dec. 2025
The Track Pant Lean into the boyish ease of track pants by pairing them with an oversized button-up and chunky loafers.
—Christina Holevas, Vogue, 4 Dec. 2025
He’s picked up by a family — a bespectacled father (Mark MacRae), pregnant mother (Zoë Barrett-Wood), teenaged daughter (Audrey Wellington) and boyish son (Lochlan Ray Miller).
—Andrew McGowan, Variety, 27 Oct. 2025
Remembering Robert Redford Robert Redford, the legendary leading man with boyish good looks and charm who used his star power to advocate for independent filmmaking, environmentalism and LGBTQ rights, has died at age 89.
—Nicole Fallert, USA Today, 17 Sep. 2025
He was known for his boyish good looks and charm, advocating for independent filmmaking, environmentalism and LGBTQ rights.
—Mariyam Muhammad, Cincinnati Enquirer, 16 Sep. 2025
Underneath McCartney’s quick wit, good nature and boyish face with his trademark round eyes and full cheeks lies a hyper competitiveness.
—Caleb Hammond, IndieWire, 4 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for boyish
Adjective
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As mainstream culture embraces girlish femininity alongside an ahistoric raw-milked nostalgia for a trad past, the sheep becomes a totem of the submissive, sacrificial role for women and girls in a new gender landscape.—
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With her girlish grin and short blonde hair, Rebecca looked ten years old.—
Adjective
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Off-duty, the actor can be found in statement outerwear and tomboyish button-ups and trousers.—
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The brand’s sturdy styles add a tomboyish touch to the wrist of anyone who likes a more androgynous look, a style that’s particularly trendy right now.—
Adjective
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The brand is seeing an upswing post-pandemic, as these childish styles, long favored in Asia-Pacific countries like Japan and South Korea, become increasingly popular in China and the West.—
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She’s fallen under the sway of a fashionable worldview in which logic is paramount, and the realm of emotion and magic and even dæmons is just childish fancy.—
Adjective
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The Skims founder just embraced the girly, ruffly, bow-loving look with a festive—and somewhat unexpected—hairstyle.—
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These girlie pops are giving us driving bangers.—
Adjective
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There's macho panache and white-knuckle action sequences aplenty as Pitt's eccentric Formula 1 veteran plays reluctant mentor to a hotshot rookie (Damson Idris).—
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The onetime wannabe Broadway producer brought his particular style of late 20th century over-the-top macho taste to political events, elevating professional wrestling to the Republican National Convention and inviting the 1980s icons Sylvester Stallone and Mike Tyson to the White House.—
Cite this Entry
“Boyish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/boyish. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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