swainish
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Adjective
[edit]swainish (comparative more swainish, superlative most swainish)
- Pertaining to, or resembling, a swain according to any definition; but commonly conveying the sense of "ignorant", or "rustic".
- 1642 April, John Milton, An Apology for Smectymnuus; republished in A Complete Collection of the Historical, Political, and Miscellaneous Works of John Milton, […], volume I, Amsterdam [actually London: s.n.], 1698, →OCLC, page 177:
- [W]hen good and faire in one Perſon meet, argues both a groſſe and ſhallow Judgement, and withall an ungentle, and ſwainiſh breſt.
- 1819 Thomas Campbell, Specimens of the British Poets - Volume 6
- Falconer's characters are few; but the calm sagacious commander, and the rough obstinate Rodmond, are well contrasted. Some part of the love-story of Palemon is rather swainish and protracted, yet the effect of his being involved in the calamity, leaves a deeper sympathy in the mind for the daughter of Albert, when we conceive her at once deprived both of a father and a lover.
Usage notes
[edit]Rarely used except when quoting Milton.
Related terms
[edit]References
[edit]- “swainish”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.