Boyish means having the look or manner of a young boy. A boyish grin.
It is affectionate about a man and was long used to praise a woman for being slim. Boyish enthusiasm is the commonest phrase and is never entirely a compliment.
1adjectiveboyishHaving the look or manner of a young boy.
“He kept a boyish enthusiasm for trains into his seventies.”
boyish is a quality.
Middle English
boye
English
boy
English, today
boyish
Built from
From boy + -ish. boy comes from Middle English boye. From Middle English boy//boye (“servant, commoner, knave, boy”), from Old English bōia (“boy”), from Proto-West Germanic bōjō, from Proto-Germanic bōjô (“younger brother, young male relation”), from Proto-Germanic bō- (“brother, close male relation”), from Proto-Indo-European bʰā-, bʰāt- (“father, elder brother, brother”). Cognate with Scots boy (“boy”), West Frisian boai (“boy”), Dutch boi (“boy”), Low German Boi (“boy”), and probably to the Old English - proper name Bōia. Also related to stq Bouge (“boy”), vls boe (“brother”), Norwegian - dialectal boa (“brother”), Dutch boef (“rogue, knave”), bar Bua (“young boy, lad”), German Bube "boy; knave; jack"; > English bub, Icelandic bófi (“rogue, crook, bandit, knave”), lmo bagaj "boy"; (< gem -). See also bully.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA