English

Adjective

bookish ‎(comparative more bookish, superlative most bookish)

1. Given to reading; fond of study; better acquainted with books than with people; learned from books.
   • 1783, Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin‎, page 16

     From a child I was fond of reading, and all the little money that came into my hands was ever laid out in books. […] This bookish inclination at length determined my father to make me a printer, though he had already one son (James) of that profession.

2. Characterized by a method of expression generally found in books.
   • 1996, Helen L. Harrison, Pistoles/Paroles: Money and Language in Seventeenth-century French Comedy‎, page 50

     Obviously, neither Corneille nor the characters who laugh at excessively bookish speech avoid literary convention.

Synonyms

• (characterized by expression found in books): formal, labored, literary, pedantic

Derived terms

• bookishly
• bookishness

See also

• nerd

Translations

Anagrams

• Kibosho