puckishness
Gleeful troublemaking spirit
Puckishness is a mischievous, playful quality—the spirit of someone who enjoys harmless tricks and teasing.
The word comes from Puck, the impish fairy in Shakespeare's *A Midsummer Night's Dream*.
Someone with puckishness delights in wit, pranks, and gentle troublemaking: There was a puckishness in his grin that made you suspect he was up to something.
Playful mischievous acts
- shenanigansMischievous or deceitful behavior
- tomfooleryFoolish or silly behavior
- anticsAbsurd, attention-seeking behavior
- high jinksBoisterous, playful behavior
monkey business · roguery · escapades · frolics · capers · tricks · hoaxing · troublemaking
Playfully causing trouble
- elfinSmall and sprite-like
- spriteTiny magical creature
- pixieTiny magical troublemaker
- rogueDishonest or uncontrolled agent
scamp · rascal · waggish · arch · cheeky · devilish · prankish · sly
Inclined to merriment
- lightheartedCheerful and without worry
- sportiveFond of games
- friskyLively and playful
- gambolingPlayful jumping about
romping · jovial · jocular · merry · spirited · gleeful · blithe · caper
Subject to sudden changes
- quirkyIdiosyncratically unusual
- whimsyPlayful, capricious quality
- fancifulImaginatively unrealistic
- drollOddly humorous
mercurial · unpredictable · antic · madcap · zany · eccentric · fantastical · imaginative
pranks
Playful mischievous acts
- shenanigansMischievous or deceitful behavior
- tomfooleryFoolish or silly behavior
- anticsAbsurd, attention-seeking behavior
high jinks · monkey business · roguery · escapades · frolics · capers · tricks · hoaxing · troublemaking · naughtiness
mischievous
Playfully causing trouble
rogue · scamp · rascal · waggish · arch · cheeky · devilish · prankish · sly · leprechaun
frolicsome
Inclined to merriment
- lightheartedCheerful and without worry
- sportiveFond of games
- friskyLively and playful
gamboling · romping · jovial · jocular · merry · spirited · gleeful · blithe · caper · rollicking
capricious
Subject to sudden changes
droll · mercurial · unpredictable · antic · madcap · zany · eccentric · fantastical · imaginative · sprightly
guile
Sly, strategic dishonesty
clever · crafty · shrewd · cagey · knowing · calculating · scheming · foxlike · gambit · stratagem
puckishnessseriousness
Earnest, weighty demeanor
solemnity · gravity · earnestness · sobriety · humorlessness
puckishnessconventionality
Adherence to accepted customs
propriety · straightforwardness · decorum · conformity · orthodoxy
puckishnessmalice
Intent to cause harm
cruelty · viciousness · meanness · spite · malevolence