1. in a manner characteristic of a don (a senior member of a college at Oxford or Cambridge); in a scholarly, pedantic, or academic way
Usage: chiefly British; often implies excessive formality or detachment from practical concerns

Examples

• He spoke donnishly about medieval philosophy, using obscure Latin phrases.
• The professor donnishly dismissed the student's practical question as beneath academic consideration.
• She dressed donnishly in tweed and carried leather-bound books everywhere.
• He donnishly corrected everyone's grammar at the dinner table.
• The lecture was delivered donnishly, with little regard for whether the audience understood.