cuddlyadj.
/ˈkʌd(ə)li/ Given to cuddling; such as invites cuddling; = cuddlesome adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > embrace > [adjective] > embraceable
clipsome1816
cuddly1862
cuddlesome1876
embraceable1879
hugsome1893
huggable1898
cuddleable1928
1862 C. Kingsley Water-babies v, in Macmillan's Mag. Dec. 104/2 She was the most..cuddly..creature who ever nursed a baby.
1915 J. Galsworthy Freelands xxxvi She laid her face beside his on the pillow... It made everything seem cuddly and warm.
1922 D. H. Lawrence England my England 56 He put his arm round her and drew her a little nearer to him, in a very warm and cuddly manner.
1927 P. G. Wodehouse Small Bachelor i. §1. 6 ‘Are you trying to convey the idea that she is short and stout?’ ‘Oh, no, sir, not stout. Just nice and plump. What I should describe as cuddly.’
Draft additions March 2021
cuddly toy n. a children's toy, typically a toy animal, made of fabric and stuffed with a soft filling.
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1914 19th Cent. & After Nov. 1121 The cuddly toys are being made at Old Bedford College.
1923 Daily Mail 16 Mar. 14 Cuddly toys appeal to babies.
2013 L. Bellingham Tell Me Tomorrow 228 She had made a cake in the shape of a pink teddy, which had been the child's favourite cuddly toy.
Draft additions September 2013
ˈcuddliness n.
ΚΠ
1921 G. R. Chester & L. Chester Son of Wallingford xi. 149 The plump cuddliness of Shimmie with the curving lips.
1950 J. S. Plant Envelope iii. 47 Negativism in young children is the opposite of cuddliness. One feels the muscular withdrawal of the child.
2008 New Yorker 21 Apr. 90/2 A kind of regression to my childhood bedroom and its community of plush toys: a fantasy of cuddliness.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
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adj.1862