startlish en · ADJ
Etymology
From startle + -ish.
Meanings
-
(colloquial) Easily startled; skittish.
He stirred up in a kind of a startlish way; but when he see it was only me he took a good gap and stretch, and then he says: “Hello, what's up? Don't cry, bub. What's the trouble?”
1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most startlish | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more startlish | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |