swinish

English

Etymology

From Middle English swinisse, swynys, swynyse; equivalent to swine +‎ -ish.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈswaɪnɪʃ/
• Hyphenation: swin‧ish

Adjective

swinish (comparative more swinish, superlative most swinish)

1. Like a pig, resembling a swine; gluttonous, coarse, debased.
   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]:

     […] They clip vs drunkards, and with Swiniſh phraſe / Soyle our addition, and indeede it takes / From our atchieuements, though perform’d at height / The pith and marrow of our attribute […]

   • 1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.27:

     Epicurus, though his ethic seemed to others swinish and lacking in moral exultation, was very much in earnest.

Translations

like a pig, resembling a swine

• Bulgarian: свински (bg) (svinski)
• Greek:

  Ancient: χοιρώδης (khoirṓdēs)