lightishadj.1
/ˈlʌɪtɪʃ/, U.S. /ˈlaɪdɪʃ/ Somewhat pale or light in colour; somewhat bright.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > state or mode of having colour > [adjective] > light-coloured
light-coloured1533
light1548
lightsomea1586
lightish1649
the world > matter > light > illumination > [adjective] > illuminated or lit up > faintly
lightish1649
1649 Moderate 21–28 Aug. 687 One of the Geldings was an lightish Gray.
1656 tr. J. A. Comenius Latinæ Linguæ Janua Reserata: Gate Lat. Tongue Unlocked iii. §25 The Moon..maketh the night, one while light, another while lightish.
1723 London Gaz. No. 6217/3 He..wears a lightish Wig.
1783 W. Marsden Hist. Sumatra 83 The leaves are of a lightish green and somewhat pointed.
1872 G. MacDonald Wilfrid Cumbermede I. xv. 237 His hair [was] a lightish brown.
2017 Sunday Times Mag. (Nexis) 24 Sept. I had brown hair and lightish brown eyes.
Compounds
Forming adjectives with the sense ‘that has (a) light ——’, by combining with a noun + -ed, as in lightish-coloured, lightish-skinned, etc.
ΚΠ
1688 London Gaz. No. 2312/4 A loose lightish coloured Camblet Coat.
1870 Jrnl. Anthropol. 1 93 The men are, for the most part, long-headed, light-eyed, and lightish-haired.
2019 C. Adam Golden Child 64 She's lightish-skinned, with gray hair, well dressed.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2021).
lightishadj.2
/ˈlʌɪtɪʃ/, U.S. /ˈlaɪdɪʃ/ Somewhat light in weight, substance, etc.; rather light (in various senses of light adj.1).
ΚΠ
1718 S. Switzer Ichnographia Rustica III. 198 Our burnt-bakers in Hampshire use the method of Rafter-ploughing in all their lightish lands.
1831 C. Darwin Let. 6 Sept. in Corr. (1985) I. 143 Tell Edward to send me up in my carpet bag, (he can slip the key in the bag tied to some string) my slippers, a pair of lightish walking shoes.
1950 Monroe (Wisconsin) Evening Times 12 July 2/4 A vocal and encore by Evelyn Hartwig and the lightish band numbers..all added up to a pleasant evening.
2000 Weekend Austral. (Nexis) 5 Aug. (Sport section) 54 At 95 kilograms he's a lightish, big-hearted second-rower, with a lot of upper body power.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2021; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.11649
adj.21718