eightish

Eightish is a colloquial English adjective and adverb formed by attaching the suffix -ish to the numeral eight. It signals approximate value or time, roughly eight, rather than a precise eight. The form is commonly written as eightish or eight-ish, both widely understood.

As an adverb, eightish modifies a time expression: "Let's meet at eightish." As an adjective, it can modify a noun to indicate an approximate quantity or age: "There were eightish people in line" or "a child eightish years old." However, usage as an adjective is less common and can sound informal or playful.

Origin and suffix notes: The -ish suffix denotes approximation or similarity and attaches to many numbers and nouns in informal speech. Eightish is part of a broader pattern (twoish, threeish), though those forms are less frequent for larger numbers.

Usage and register: Eightish is informal and predominantly spoken American and British English. It tends to appear in casual writing and dialogue, not in formal prose. The term is flexible but nonspecific; speakers often choose more precise alternatives when accuracy matters, such as "around eight o'clock" or "about eight years old."