Dictionary

cartoonish en · ADJ

Etymology

From cartoon + -ish. Piecewise doublet of cartoonesque.

Meanings

1. (figuratively) Exaggerated or caricatured, in the manner of a cartoon.
   • His requirement for compliments, flattery, adoration and awards is so continual and extreme that it is of cartoonish proportions, with all the garishness that characterizes the most exaggerated satire. 2026 February 19, Lisa Langhammer, “Trump’s ‘Cartoonish’ Monuments to Himself”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
   • [David] Remnick suggested it was “cartoonish”, to which [Anna] Wintour agreed, adding: “Yes, a caricature.” 2025 September 10, Catherine Shoard, “‘It was a fair shot’: Anna Wintour belatedly gives her verdict on The Devil Wears Prada”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
   • Since first tossing its cartoonish, good-time cock-rock to the masses in the early ’00s, The Darkness has always fallen back on this defense: The band is a joke, but hey, it’s a good joke. With Hot Cakes—the group’s third album, and first since reforming last year—the laughter has died. In its place is the sad wheeze of the last surviving party balloon slowly, listlessly deflating. 2012 August 21, Jason Heller, “The Darkness: Hot Cakes (Music Review)”, in The Onion AV Club:
   • She was grinning a big, cartoonish grin.

Forms

Deriveds

cartoonishly · cartoonishness

Synonyms

cartoonesque · cartoony · cartoonlike

Translations (7)

mr कार्टूनसारखा (Translations) · sv karikatyrartad (Translations) · pl kreskówkowy (Translations) · fi sarjakuvamainen (Translations) · sv serieliknande (Translations) · sv tecknad (Translations) · mr व्यंगचित्रासारखा (Translations)