coppish

English
WOTD – 2 May 2023

Etymology 1

From cop +‎ -ish (suffix meaning ‘being like, similar to, typical of’, forming adjectives from nouns).

Pronunciation
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈkɒpɪʃ/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈkɑpɪʃ/
  • Audio (AU)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɒpɪʃ
  • Hyphenation: cop‧pish

Adjective

coppish (comparative more coppish, superlative most coppish)

  1. (chiefly US, slang) Characteristic of or resembling a cop (“police officer”).
    Synonyms: coplike, policelike
    • 2002, Robert B[rown] Parker, chapter 30, in Widow’s Walk, New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, →ISBN, page 136:
      “Are you a policeman?” Conroy said. I gave him my most coppish deadpan stare.
    • 2011, Holly Jacobs [pseudonym; Holly Fuhrmann], chapter 5, in A Father’s Name (Harlequin SuperRomance), Toronto, Ont.: Harlequin, →ISBN, page 106:
      "I know I'm going to sound suspicious and very policelike—" / "You're allowed to sound coppish … it's in your DNA," Laura assured him.
Translations
characteristic of or resembling a cop — see coplike

Etymology 2

See capisce.

Pronunciation

Interjection

coppish

  1. Alternative spelling of capisce
    • 2001, Lil Cromer, Allen R. Pedrick, chapter 3, in Terminal Greed, Lincoln, Neb.: Writers Club Press, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 33:
      Simple, I live here so I was nominated. Coppish?
    • 2006, Michael Beres, chapter 21, in The President’s Nemesis, Palm Beach, Fla.: Medallion Press, →ISBN, page 174:
      "After that we'll see." Jake reached out and clasped Walter's shoulder. "Coppish?" Walter smiled broadly. "Coppish, Mr. Serranto."
Translations
alternative spelling of capisce — see capisce

Etymology 3

A variant of codpiece.[1]

Pronunciation

Noun

coppish (plural coppishes)

  1. (Wales) The fly of a pair of trousers.
    • a. 1954 (date written), Dylan Thomas, “The Holy Six”, in Adventures in the Skin Trade (A New Directions Paperbook; no. 183), New York, N.Y.: New Directions Publishing Corporation, published 1969, →ISBN, page 129:
      And it was early morning, and the world was moist, when the crystal-gazer's husband, a freak in knickerbockers with an open coppish and a sabbath gamp, came over the stones outside his house to meet the holy travellers.
Translations
fly of a pair of trousers — see fly

References
  1. Joseph Wright, editor (1898), “COPPISH, sb.”, in The English Dialect Dictionary: […], volumes I (A–C), London: Henry Frowde, […], publisher to the English Dialect Society, […]; New York, N.Y.: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, →OCLC, page 728, column 1.

Further reading
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