One who is waggish acts like a wag. What, then, is a wag? It has nothing to do with a dog’s tail; in this case a wag is a clever person prone to joking. Though light-hearted in its use and meaning, the probable source of this particular wag is grim: it is thought to be short for waghalter, an obsolete English word that translates as gallows bird, a gallows bird being someone thought to be deserving of hanging. The wag in waghalter is the familiar wag having to do with movement, and halter is another word for a noose.
a waggish disposition that often got him into trouble as a child
Recent Examples on the WebVariation after variation test every tool these dancers have, layered over with waggish character dancing pulling from Polish mazurka and Russian hopak, to name a few. Lauren Warnecke, chicagotribune.com, 4 Mar. 2022 Black and white and set to nervous, waggish piano music, her cast of still-photography characters comes to life. Brian T. Allen, National Review, 12 Feb. 2022 Ole Miss at Alabama isn’t for another week, but, with an open date on his schedule leading up to the big game, the SEC’s waggish prince has already started chirping at the Crimson Tide. Joseph Goodman | Jgoodman@al.com, al, 24 Sep. 2021 But this waggish show, which enjoyed a cult moment on Broadway, is borne aloft on vintage music from the Go-Go’s.Los Angeles Times, 23 Aug. 2021 Re-teaming with producer James Ford (Haim, Depeche Mode), frontman Alex Turner trades in piercing guitar for jaunty piano for a waggish, if at times uninspired meditation on fame in the digital age. Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 10 May 2018 Carney’s attitude is waggish but jovial, never crossing into anger. Seth Stevenson, Slate Magazine, 10 Apr. 2017 His melancholy, along with his waggish humor, goes more unguarded in his songs. Michael Schulman, New York Times, 4 June 2016 Not specifically based on Che Guevara, Richard Bermudez’s Che is a waggish yet mild-mannered gadfly, a cynical, harshly critical observer of the Perón regime.Orange County Register, 15 Feb. 2017 See More