A complete, filterable list of 37+ English words ending in -ISH — with definitions, word types, and difficulty ratings.
The "-ish" suffix does several distinct jobs. As a diminishing modifier it softens an adjective: "reddish" means somewhat red, "childish" means resembling a child. As a nationality marker it identifies speakers and cultures: English, Spanish, Turkish. In informal modern usage it even modifies numerals ("I'll be there at 7-ish") — a productive informal pattern. The overlap with verb endings like "finish" and "vanish" means not every "-ish" word is an adjective.
Part of speech: Adjectives meaning "somewhat resembling" (reddish, childish, foolish), nationality adjectives (English, Spanish, Swedish), and some verbs (finish, vanish, polish).
In word games, "-ISH" endings help extend adjectives already on the board. "SELFISH," "STYLISH," and "OAFISH" are efficient plays that score well without requiring unusual letters.
This list includes 37 English words ending in -ish, drawn from a curated dictionary of 10,000+ words spanning everyday vocabulary, academic terms, and word-game forms. The count focuses on base forms; inflected variants (e.g. plurals or conjugations) are counted separately.
Common examples from this list include: Dish, Fish, Van. Use the difficulty filter above to browse easy, medium, or hard words separately.
Adjectives meaning "somewhat resembling" (reddish, childish, foolish), nationality adjectives (English, Spanish, Swedish), and some verbs (finish, vanish, polish). Use the "Type" filter above to narrow the list to nouns, verbs, adjectives, or adverbs specifically.
Most standard words on this list are accepted in major Scrabble dictionaries (TWL, SOWPODS). Some hard-difficulty words are archaic, borrowed, or dialect forms whose validity can vary between rulesets — always verify against the official word list for your competition or app.