English Etymology From gem + -like. Adjective gemlike (comparative more gemlike, superlative most gemlike) Resembling a gem; thus, often brilliant and compact 1988 June 3, Grant Pick, “A Philosopher's Life”, in Chicago Reader:His stuff was gemlike. 2012, Oliver Sacks, Hallucinations:In his later years, Jackson published a series of twenty-one short, gemlike papers in the Lancet under the title Neurological Fragments.Remove adsWikiwand - on Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.Remove ads