Do you prefer your heroines shy and naïve, strong and experienced, or perhaps a nice middle ground?

The word “missish” originated in the Georgian era, late 18th century, coined by Fanny Burney, a novelist known best for her novels of manners but also a remarkable playwright and satirist.

She took the word “miss,” as in a young, naïve lady, and turned it into an adjective, as though calling someone a naïve young lady with its usage, such as, “Don’t be miss-ish.” It caught on quickly and entered oral circulation after its appearance in 1795.

So popular, it appears in Jane Austen’s writings, such as the scene when Mr Bennet says to Elizabeth, “You are not going to be Missish, I hope, and pretend to be affronted at an idle report.”

The word refers to the characteristics of a young and naïve girl: prim, prudish, silly, demure, modest, inexperienced, etc. While there is nothing necessarily insulting about being a young and naïve girl, it is typically used in address to a more mature woman who would have matured past these characteristics, or at least the combination of them.

For instance, there’s nothing inherently wrong with being modest, but if you pair modesty with prudishness, that might make for an unpleasant disposition. Or for example, there is nothing wrong with being inexperienced, but to be inexperienced and silly could be embarrassing.