Alpish

English

Alternative forms

• alpish

Etymology

From Alps +‎ -ish.

Adjective

Alpish (comparative more Alpish, superlative most Alpish) (uncommon)

1. (relational) Of or pertaining to the Alps, a mountain range in Western and Central Europe; Alpine.
   • 1597, John Gerarde, “Of mountaine Sanicle” (chapter 263), in The Herball or Generall Hiſtorie of Plantes, London: Iohn Norton, page 645:

     Theſe plants are ſtrangers in England,their naturall countrie is the alpiſh mountaines of Heluetia.

   • 1878 April 27, “The Auricula”, in The Gardeners' Chronicle, volume IX, number 226, page 526, column 3:

     We have seen that Gerarde mentions it, and he may have derived, directly or indirectly, his "Beare's Eares" from Clusius, who in 15S2 introduced from the "Alpish" mountains of the Tyrol to Belgium Primula Auricula and a plant supposed to be a natural hybrid, P. pubescens.

   • 2009 November 10, Douglas Coupland, Generation A, United States: Scribner, page 263:

     There was once a young French scientist who found himself one cold night in the darkened bedroom of an apartment in Locarno, Switzerland, a room that looked out over frozen Lake Maggiore, a beautiful, tiny, dull place where Italy kisses Switzerland. […] This was on his mind as he looked out the window and saw rooftops, Alpish mountains, some cold, glinting lights to the south in Italy and the silhouettes of Washingtonia palm fronds, static in the windless night.

2. (by extension) Mountainous, alpine.
   • 1611, Richardus Badley, “In praiſe of the moſt obſeruant Trauel Mr. Thomas Coryate of Odcombe, and of his moſt Axiopiſticall Hodæpory”, in Thomas Coryat, editor, Coryat's Crudities: Hastily gobled up in Five Moneth's Travels, London: W. S., page k2:

     For in the midſt of thy moſt Alpiſh waies, / when ruinous rocks did threat to end thy daies, / No doubt,thou couldſt haue wiſh:thyſelfe at home, / To liue,and lay thy bones in ſweete Odcombe.

   • 1879, James Albert Harrison, chapter XVIII, in Spain in Profile: A Summer Among the Olives and Aloes, Boston: Houghton, Osgood and Company, page 369:

     The country is near enough the Alpish region of Galicia and Asturias to be blessed with showers, and ample verdure is the result.

   • 1821, John Ayscough, chapter XXV, in First impressions in America, London: John Long Ltd, page 140:

     Ours was but a twenty-four hour visit to Santa Catalina, but a much longer visit would be needed to do it justice. Its fifty miles of circuit has much more than fifty miles of bay and cove, for the coast is indented deeply: it has innumerable cañons, and valleys, and uplands, alpish peaks and summits: a perfect climate, brilliant sun, and neither heat nor cold.

   • 1938 April, Ruth Toucey, “Zealous Zebralya or How to Shred a Toothpick Proportionally”, in The Crimson and Gray, volume XXI, number 3, page 7:

     "Ah, the world must recognize and respect me," she yelled and dashed out of the window to begin scaling the roof.
     Upon attaining this alpish region she immediately perched herself upon the chimney top and in this regal position may be found there today.

   • 1968, “The Cascade Mountains”, in Sunset Travel Guide to Washington, Lane Publishing, page 86:

     By 1977 the whole main street had blossomed with domes, cupolas, gingerbreaded balconies, and other bits of alpish architecture.

   • 2004, Lisa Samson, The Living End, Center Point Publishing, page 111:

     Good thing Joey didn’t specify the altitude of a proper, winterable mountain. I’m sure he pictured something Alpish or Rocky, not the mildly undulating Blue Ridge.