stareyadj.
/ˈstɛːri/, U.S. /ˈstɛri/ Chiefly colloquial.
1. Of the eyes: staring, or giving the appearance of staring. Also: inclined or tending to stare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > a look or glance > [adjective] > staring
gloringa1400
goggled1511
gogglinga1586
gogglya1693
starey1859
1859 M. A. Denison Opposite Jail xxi. 203 It seemed as if I couldn't get out of the way of her starey eyes.
1890 Fanciers' Jrnl. 6 Sept. 150/1 In bitches, Lady Caution..is much too cheeky and starey in eye, but her ribs, loin and hindquarters are exceptionally good.
1924 Chambers's Jrnl. Aug. 557 A bit flushed and starey about the eyes but still breathing.
a1935 T. E. Lawrence Mint (1955) i. xiv. 50 Her eyes were starey, like a haddock's.
1975 Listener 9 Oct. 479/1 Vanessa Redgrave, very starey and earnest.
2008 K. Howell Darkest Hour xxvii. 301 Her eyes were overbright and a bit starey, as if her mind was completely somewhere else.
2.
a. Of hair, feathers, etc.: = staring adj. 4.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > covering or skin > [adjective] > having a coat > hairy, furry, or woolly > having bristles or bristly
bristleda1300
birsya1522
birsit1553
bristling1607
stickle-haired1615
starey1869
chaetigerous1896
1869 J. Gamgee in Rep. Dis. Cattle (U.S. Dept. Agric.) 85 An animal lying down, with an unthrifty-looking, stary coat, dry muzzle, and perhaps trembling.
1922 Jrnl. Dept. Agric. Union S. Afr. 3 247 The same thing applies in the case of the stary [ostrich] feathers.
1955 W. W. Denlinger Compl. Boston i. 94 They [sc. internal parasites] reflect themselves in a dull starey coat.
2007 F. Weldon Spa i. 7 Unhappy women get rough, starey hair—the way dogs' coats go when they're ill.
b. Textiles. Of yarn or cloth: having thinly spaced fibres prominently projecting from the surface; spec. (English regional (Somerset)) having the nap worn thin, threadbare. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [adjective] > other
strait1439
flocked1607
high warp1728
shot1763
wattled1865
double-face1873
starey1884
loopy1902
wrung1902
multi-ply1926
1884 W. S. B. McLaren Spinning Woollen & Worsted 171 The projecting fibres, which would make it stary and lack lustre, in passing beneath the cap get laid along the yarn and twisted into the body of it.
1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. Stary,..4. Threadbare. A word used technically of cloth in which the separate threads are plainly to be seen.
1916 Amer. Wool & Cotton Reporter 6 Jan. 7/2 The bare, starey appearance which the raised threads would otherwise present.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1859