From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishimpimp /ɪmp/ noun [countable] 1 BAD PERSONa child who behaves badly, but in a way that is funny2 RFa small creature in stories who has magic powers and behaves very badly → impish
Examples from the Corpus
imp• And yet, underneath that veneer of stoicism there lay a devious imp.• They leaped about in the form of imps, black baby devils.• He's dressing up as the Lincoln Imp; the original imp is a carving in Lincoln cathedral.• Yet a devil was loose somewhere, a restless imp had slipped into her and would not be harried or prayed out.• Kappa, the amphibious river imp.• The imp of hell appeared on closer examination to be a neglected child.• Or I should say the wee imp ran into me.Origin imp Old English impa 