We know Puck as "that merry wanderer of the night," the shape-changing, maiden-frightening, mischief-sowing henchman to the king of the fairies in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Bard drew on English folklore in casting his character, but the traditional Puck was more malicious than the Shakespearean imp; he was an evil spirit or demon. In medieval England, this nasty hobgoblin was known as the puke or pouke, names related to the Old Norse pūki, meaning "devil." (There is no connection to modern English puke.) But it was the Bard's characterization that stuck, and by the time the adjective puckish started appearing regularly in English texts in the 1800s the association was one of impishness, not evil.
He had a puckish smile on his face. he takes a puckish delight in teasing her about her love life, or lack thereof
Recent Examples on the WebIts inevitably heartstrings-tugging relationships and its sanctimonious sense of purpose are leavened with the puckish spirit of Saturday-morning cartoons, if not their playfulness. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 13 July 2022 Beneath the puckish public persona, Musk has displayed a fierce temper and what some associates and employees call a dark tendency to dismiss or harass people unlike himself. Marc Fisher, Christian Davenport And Faiz Siddiqui, Anchorage Daily News, 15 May 2022 Johnson’s march to power was animated by his distinct, puckish nationalism. Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 6 June 2022 Beneath the puckish public persona, Musk has displayed a fierce temper and what some associates and employees call a dark tendency to dismiss or harass people unlike himself. Marc Fisher, Christian Davenport And Faiz Siddiqui, Anchorage Daily News, 15 May 2022 With this at the top of his mind, even the most eye-popping set piece becomes a puckish way of speaking truth to power — like a very, very elaborate prank. Michael Ordoña, Los Angeles Times, 6 June 2022 Mysterious shapes in the shrubbery add humor to this puckish escapade for children ages 3-6. Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, 27 May 2022 Beneath the puckish public persona, Musk has displayed a fierce temper and what some associates and employees call a dark tendency to dismiss or harass people unlike himself. Marc Fisher, Christian Davenport And Faiz Siddiqui, Anchorage Daily News, 15 May 2022 Beneath the puckish public persona, Musk has displayed a fierce temper and what some associates and employees call a dark tendency to dismiss or harass people unlike himself. Marc Fisher, Christian Davenport And Faiz Siddiqui, Anchorage Daily News, 15 May 2022 See More