shoppyadj.
/ˈʃɒpi/, U.S. /ˈʃɑpi/ Now rare.
1. Characterized by having a number of shops; forming a centre for business.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > trading place > place where retail transactions made > [adjective] > relating to shop > characterized by having shops
shoppy1799
1799 W. Taylor Let. 25 Mar. in J. W. Robberds Mem. W. Taylor (1843) I. 269 The highest benevolence is..to bepraise the boated lake, the fishy brook,..the shoppy street and taxable house.
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour I. 292/1 Thoroughfares which are well-frequented, but which..are not so ‘shoppy’ as others.
1892 Pall Mall Gaz. 6 Oct. 1/2 The innumerable shades of colour in all the drapers' windows make the ‘shoppy’ part of town more fascinating than usual.
2003 Times 23 Aug. (Weekend section) 16/7 Outside, through the shoppy pedestrian area around Gabriel's Hill.
2. Relating to or characteristic of a shop or shopkeeper; belonging to the retail trade; commercial.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > selling > [adjective] > belonging to or characteristic of type of selling
retail1601
shopkeeping1603
wholesale1640
shoppish1815
shoppy1825
soft sell1954
1825 Spirit of Times 3 Dec. 134/2 The Argyll Rooms are low and shoppy; but the row a little to the south of them, of which a large carpet warehouse is one, is really elegant and Palladian.
1836 Bath & West Eng. Mag. Feb. 41/2 There is something peculiar in his voice—it is harsh, loud, and shoppy, and his conversation generally ends in ‘in a bargain’.
1890 J. Hatton By Order of Czar I. 390 Critics in the press..characterize both his manner and his work [sc. paintings] as commercial and shoppy.
1914 W. Owen Let. 10 May (1967) 249 Miss H—— who, you confess, is ‘shoppy’. Now that is distressing. The fact of being employed in a shop does not matter; but shoppiness does matter.
2014 N.Y. Mag. 17 Feb. 68/2 She has a very young, shoppy, retail-savvy, smart following.
3. Concerning or relating to one's own business, profession, or pursuit. Cf. shop n. 7.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > [adjective] > of occupational or professional matters
vocational1665
shoppy1840
1840 T. C. Haliburton Let. Bag Great Western (U.K. ed.) i. 4 Still my attention was rivetted (I fear that word is shoppy).
1900 Macmillan's Mag. Jan. 222 A novel of clerical life written by a clergyman is apt to be what is vulgarly called shoppy.
1935 W. Fortescue Perfume from Provence 272 I asked him if I might ask him a ‘shoppy’ question.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1799