What does mumpish mean?
Mumpish means sulky, sullen, or ill-tempered, especially in the way someone looks or behaves when displeased, disappointed, or unwilling to engage with others. The adjective is most often used of a person’s expression, manner, or mood: a mumpish silence, a mumpish face, or someone who feels mumpish. It has a literary, mildly old-fashioned tone, but it conveys a recognizable emotional situation with greater vividness than a general word such as sad and without necessarily implying open anger. Mumpish also suggests withdrawal or refusal to communicate, as though the person is sulking. In modern English it is relatively uncommon, appearing chiefly in literature and formal descriptive prose, but it remains a useful word when the intended sense is a mixture of bad temper, disappointment, and sullen silence.
adjectiveSulky, sullen, and ill-tempered. It describes a person’s manner or expression when subdued or displeased.
- Sulky, sullen, and ill-tempered in manner or expression.
"After being left out of the conversation, he sat by the window with a mumpish expression."
"The mumpish child refused to join the game."
"She answered my question with a mumpish silence."
Mumpish captures the particular cloudiness that comes over someone who is cross, disappointed, or simply not in the mood to talk.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of mumpish
Mumpish was formed in the 17th century from the older verb mump, meaning to sulk or behave in a sullen, uncommunicative way. The verb is related to mumps, although the precise development of that relationship is not entirely certain. The adjective inherited the sense of being sullen or sulky from the older verb.
Related word forms
How mumpish is actually used
The word is literary and somewhat old-fashioned, but it remains intelligible and evocative. It emphasizes a sullen or sulky mood and may sound gentler than describing someone as angry.
Easily confused with mumpish
Mumpish means sulky or sullen, whereas mumps is the contagious viral illness that causes swelling of the salivary glands.
Mumpish is an adjective describing a sulky mood or manner, while mumping is a verb meaning to sulk or behave in a depressed, mute, or uncommunicative way.