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If someone is impish, they show a lack of respect or seriousness — but in a way that is rather than bad. An impish smile, an impish joke, an impish look: the picture is a small tease, a hidden trick, a sparkle in the eye. The word comes from imp, a tiny mischief-spirit in old stories — not a real devil, more like a child who cannot quite sit still. So impish is playful cheek, the kind that makes you shake your head and smile. You would not call a cruel act impish; that would be too light and too fond a word. Adults use it for children, and for grown-ups who still have that naughty flash. Though actually, it is warmer than wicked and lighter than rude. It is not the same as , which is a cold word about disrespect toward God. Impish stays in the playground, even when the playground is a meeting room.
調皮的、促狹的（帶點小惡作劇，不是真壞）
組成imp + -ish. An imp is a small, cheeky spirit in old stories; -ish means “like that.” So impish is “like a little imp.”
同家族的字
- impthe little mischievous creature the adjective comes from
原始詞典資料1 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
impishadj/ˈɪmpɪʃ/
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Mischievous; of or befitting an imp.
- Wild-eyed youngsters they were, with matted hair and little broad-nosed impish faces, covered (as some children are covered even nowadays) with a delicate down of hair.
- But the antics of Mr. Moore, though impish and impudent, are, after all, so amusing and so graceful that the governess, it is said, sometimes hides behind a tree to watch.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。