weedyadj.¹

Brit.

/ˈwiːdi/, U.S.

/ˈwidi/

Forms: see weed n.¹ and -y suffix¹.

Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: weed n.¹, -y suffix¹.

Etymology: < weed n.¹ + -y suffix¹.

a. Full of or overgrown with weeds; characterized by an abundance of weeds.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > land suitable for cultivation > [adjective] > cleared > not cleared or overgrown

unclean?1440

weedy?1440

spare1508

unweeded1604

uncleared1623

twitchy1652

uncured1719

turfy1733

mushroomed1886

tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) Tab. l. 219 (MED) Lond, weet, wodi, wedi, or stony, to remedie.

1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 27 Wheate delighteth in a leuell, riche, warme, and a drye ground: a shaddowy, weedy, and a hilly ground, it loueth not.

1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene iv. x. sig. K5^v But I..Like warie Hynd within the weedie soyle, For no intreatie would forgoe so glorious spoyle.

1608 J. Donne Lett. (1651) 50 A sullen weedy lake, where I could not have so much as exercise for my swimming.

1611 Bible (King James) Jer. xlix. 21 (margin) [The] weedie Sea [main text The noise thereof was heard in the red Sea] .

1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry 100 If Wheat is weedy it must lie upon the Gravel.

1767 A. Young Farmer's Lett. 261 Dividing the field in such a manner as to give each method a fair proportion of the weedy and clean parts.

1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin II. xxxii. 179 The wagon rolled up a weedy gravel walk.

1876 Country 6 July 12/2 Nothing could well answer better on foul fallows in such a weedy season as the present.

1914 ‘I. Hay’ Knight on Wheels xiv. 181 The garden was weedy and the lawn unshaven.

2010 New Yorker 26 July 50/1 A dry and weedy grove with a view of the blue sea.

b. figurative and in figurative contexts.

ΚΠ

1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Dec. 122 I haue Nought reaped but a weedye crop of care.

1628 W. Prynne Briefe Suruay Mr. Cozens 15 The infallibilitie of the Church of Rome, from whose weedie Garden, this Garland of Deuotion hath beene gathered.

1674 Defensio Legis xiii. 16 I wonder what Goblin doth prompt some to hearken to these infectious Charmers, the Fatlings of Sedition; when 'tis visible by late Practices, their weedy Positions are ugly Spiders, though wrapt in webs of Musk.

1700 R. Blackmore Isaiah xv, in Paraphr. Job 257 The swift Assassins of the Flood shall sport Within thy Monarch's weedy Court.

1762 J. Duncan Ess. on Happiness iii. 64 The fond parent rears the tardy seeds Of moral truth, tending with ceaseless care The weedy garden of the youthful mind.

1859 G. Meredith Ordeal Richard Feverel I. xiii. 187 A sad downfall if we forget what human nature, in its green weedy Spring, is composed of.

1892 Daily Tel. 31 Aug. 5/4 [The library] of the Church House is still scrappy, weedy and incomplete.

1916 National Mag. 44 83/1 The fall of his house, that incorporeal house in the midst of the somewhat weedy garden of his youthful promises and resolutions.

1997 Marvels & Tales 11 23 This essay would be a weedier garden without these generous responses.

a. Of a plant: of the nature of or resembling a weed. Also: made or consisting of weeds.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > valued plants and weeds > [adjective] > resembling or consisting of weed(s)

weedy?1585

weeden1599

weed-like1713

roguish1762

?1585 W. C. Aduentures Ladie Egeria sig. G2^v A foul weedy stincking nettle, bespringled and mayed with vnsauory white blossoms.

1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iv. vii. 146 When downe the weedy trophies and her selfe Fell in the weeping Brooke.

1610 G. Fletcher Christs Victorie 61 Let..nettles, kixe, and all the weedie nation, With emptie elders grow, sad signes of desolation.

1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farming 349 The Sheep..in quest of their weedy Food.

1753 R. Dodsley Agric. in Public Virtue i. ii. 94 His new machine; form'd to exterminate The weedy race.

1881 G. Allen Evolutionist at Large 44 Thus the crowfoot, too, cannot blossom to any purpose below the water;..only those lucky individuals whose chance lot it was to grow a little taller and weedier than the rest..have handed down their race to our time.

1885 Liverpool Daily Post 30 June 4/6 Grasping in their tired little hands the weedy spoils of the hedgerow.

1906 Broad Views Nov. 417 The many becalmed sailing ships that lie rotting in the weedy tangle of the Sargasso Sea.

1928 Garden & Home Builder Aug. 547/3 Nanceanus, and the vigorous weedy, hooded Primulinus with their slender graceful stalk—this merging process has brought out many sturdy new sorts.

2013 Times Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) (Nexis) 13 Apr. (Final ed.) f6 A tall Rosa glauca, once swamped with weedy growth, now sits pristinely mulched and graced with new Cistus shrubs around its base.

b. In figurative contexts.

ΚΠ

1587 W. Segar Blazon of Papistes sig. C3 The Deuill sowes these tares among the good... This weedy seede doth spring from wicked Roome, And scattered heere, to spoyle and ruinate, Our common quiet and our happye state.

1658 C. Gilbert Blessed Peace-maker 89 Peace is such a Blessing, and the work thereof so weighty and excellent, that we should be willing to dig deep for it, and bury all our weedy corruptions in the dressing thereof.

1735 J. Thomson Greece: 2nd Pt. Liberty (Dublin ed.) 12 Thrice happy Land! Had not neglected Art, with weedy Vice Confounded, sunk.

1799 L. Booker Hop-garden 81 Clear it of weedy vices, and give space For Virtue to shoot forth.

1835 J. Waterworth Exam. Princ. Protestantism 9 These weedy prejudices never will be torn up.

1888 D. C. Murray Weaker Vessel I. xiv. 233 Some of them are clever in a way; rooted fools by nature, who bear a weedy little blossom of wit, and suppose themselves to flower all over.

1901 Art Rec. 21 Sept. 495/2 This ill-bred ‘new art’ is offered to them from every corner in Europe by the art reviews; and the one or two weedy ideas that run through it sow fresh crops wherever the seed falls.

1961 Tri-State Defender (Memphis, Tennessee) 28 Apr. We can not sow weedy ideas, or weedy actions and hope to reap wholesome behavior patterns.

2003 M. Menon Wanton Words (2004) ii. 54 A universe in which weedy vice is screened by the flower of royal language.

3. Esp. of hair: tangled, matted; straggly.

ΚΠ

1762 Gentleman's Mag. June 254/2 The hair of the head rather coarser and more weedy than that of an infant.

1795 A. Yearsley Royal Captives I. 175 Now horrors stiffen in their weedy hair, And thrice they lave their heads amid the tide.

1866 H. F. Parker Frank's Search for Sea-shells viii. 162 Bivalves of a glossy brown, much wrinkled by lines of growth, and having long weedy threads growing from the epidermis at one end.

1874 F. C. Burnand My Time xxvi. 238 A long-legged gentleman with weedy whiskers.

1922 Life 7 Dec. 19/1 Weedy hair straggled down over his ears and a furtive look shot from his little, beady eyes.

2006 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 12 Oct. (Late ed.) g11/5 Weedy hair and beards, shredded trousers and oddball specs.

4. colloquial. Cf. weed n.¹ 9.

a. With reference to the build of an animal (esp. a horse or dog): lean, leggy, and lacking in physical strength or stamina.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > [adjective] > of animals;ill

mesela1400

unkind1761

weedy1799

1799 Sporting Mag. Dec. 107/2 The poor, slight, weedy, spindle-shanked stock of brood mares.

1843 R. S. Surtees Handley Cross I. vii. 136 Cook says a weedy hound is only fit to 'unt a cat in a kitchen.

1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms I. xi. 145 We drafted out all the worst and weediest of the cattle.

1902 A. W. Marchmont Sarita the Carlist viii. 92 I lashed the horse into so much of a gallop as its weary, weedy legs were capable of achieving.

1928 V. G. Perry Boston Terrier xxxii. 153 The little weedy dog will never get far in the Boston terrier world.

2003 Sunday Herald Sun (Melbourne) (Nexis) 6 July 6 Jim had arrived on a weedy pony called Mungo.

b. With reference to a person's physique: tall and thin, esp. extremely or unhealthily so; lanky and lacking in physical strength or stamina; (now usually more generally) weak or weak-looking. Sometimes also without reference to physical qualities: lacking strength of character; spineless, weak-willed.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > [adjective] > in state of ill health or diseased > weak

unmightyeOE

unferea1060

unwieldc1220

fade1303

lewc1325

weak1340

fainta1375

sicklyc1374

unwieldyc1386

impotent1390

delicatea1398

lowa1398

unmighta1450

unlustyc1450

low-brought1459

wearyc1480

failed1490

worn1508

caduke?1518

fainty1530

weak1535

debile1536

fluey1545

tewly?1547

faltering1549

puling1549

imbecilec1550

debilitate1552

flash1562

unable1577

unhealthful1595

unabled1597

whindling1601

infirm1608

debilitated1611

bedrid1629

washya1631

silly1636

fluea1645

tender1645

invaletudinary1661

languishant1674

valetudinaire?c1682

puly1688

thriftless1693

unheartya1699

wishy-washy1703

enervate1706

valetudinarian1713

lask1727

wersh1755

palliea1774

wankle1781

asthenic1789

atonic1792

squeal1794

adynamic1803

worn-down1814

totterish1817

asthenical1819

prostrate1820

used up1823

wankya1825

creaky1834

groggy1834

puny1838

imbeciled1840

rickety-rackety1840

muscleless1841

weedy1849

tottery1861

crocky1880

wimbly-wambly1881

ramshackle1889

twitterly1896

twittery1907

wonky1919

strung out1959

the world > life > the body > bodily height > tallness > [adjective] > and thin

maypolea1635

gangrel1650

gangling1764

tanglec1817

lanky1818

langrel1847

weedy1849

spindled1855

tangly1855

rangy1857

lanikin1862

gangly1871

orming1903

spiderish1935

leptosomic1936

leptosomatic1937

the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [adjective] > weak in character or will

nesheOE

feeblec1200

softc1275

weaka1425

infirm1526

lithya1533

unheaded1577

spiritless1595

pappy1597

irresolute1600

marrowless1607

seducible1613

wax-nosedc1615

unsinewy?1623

reedy1628

swayable1642

short-spirited1647

weak-headed1654

lath-backed1676

will-less?1680

tiffany-trader1702

weak-minded1716

lax1751

lax-fibred1762

nerveless1783

wishy-washy1801

marcid1822

molluscous1836

boneless1848

weedy1849

putty-headed1857

flabby1862

weak-kneed1863

fibreless1864

invertebrate1867

chinless1881

backboneless1882

featherweight1885

spineless1885

weak-willed1885

totter-kneed1887

akratic1896

effete1905

weakling1906

gutless1915

willowish1919

Milquetoast1932

nannified1960

ball-less1967

1849 R. S. Surtees Soapey Sponge's Sporting Tour xxiii, in New Monthly Mag. Sept. 103 ‘Nice size too,’ continued he,..‘plenty of substance... Hate a weedy woman—fifteen two and a half—that's to say, five feet four's plenty of height for a woman.’

a1865 E. C. Gaskell Wives & Daughters (1866) I. viii. 91 Grace..is looking rather pale and weedy.

1892 Nation 21 Apr. 295/3 In order to fill the ranks large numbers of weedy men have been enlisted.

1913 ‘M. Sinclair’ Combined Maze xxviii. 312 His feet and legs were swollen; they were like enormous weights attached to his pitifully weedy body.

1929 D. Hammett Red Harvest ii. 15 We were about the same age. He was weedy, nearly a head taller than I, but fifty pounds lighter.

1971 Petticoat 24 July 4/3 I'm just too weedy, I don't threaten to expose them.

2010 P. Murray Skippy Dies 201 Hot girls like her don't go out with weedy losers.

c. gen. Lacking potency, impact, or significance; weak, flimsy; insubstantial; (with reference to sound) lacking fullness, volume, or depth.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > manner of action > lack of violence, severity, or intensity > [adjective] > weak (of immaterial things)

thin?c1225

wateryc1230

feeble1393

wash1548

waterish1549

fadea1554

limping1577

dilute1605

lank1607

languid1622

water gruel1630

invalid1635

sinewless1644

exsanguine1647

flaccid1647

diluted1681

wishy-washy1693

tiffany1694

foible1715

rickety1738

faintly1771

unrobust1775

pale1820

peely-wally1832

muscleless1841

weakling1848

weedy?1858

feeblose1882

papery1924

?1858 Queen v. Brown & Others (Queen's Bench) 20 An institution..unnaturally forced by the stimuli of larger additions of capital than were immediately needed, would, most probably, like an unhealthy sapling, run up prematurely into a weak and weedy tree, and as speedily die.

1874 York Herald 23 Dec. 6/2 In the latter choir a few weedy voices.

1939 E. C. Buehler & M. Maloney You sell with your Voice iv. 29 Thin, weedy sounds with little life or body.

1950 Chambers's Jrnl. Mar. 131/1 He must have conveyed this to her in one way or another, because soon afterwards she sent back his presents, and the weedy friendship which might have blossomed into a beautiful love was nipped in the bud.

1954 G. Willans How to be Topp vi. 69 Successful conkers are always shriveled and weedy.

2002 Cycle World Apr. 53 The end result was simply not a very good motorcycle. Its frame..was a dreadfully weedy structure.

5. Of a taste or smell: reminiscent of weeds; made unpleasant or otherwise affected by contact with weeds. Also: having a taste or smell of this kind.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > taste and flavour > unsavouriness > [adjective] > unpalatable

unsweetc1440

boisterous1483

untasty1566

untoothsome1576

twice sod1601

coarse1607

irrelishable1608

asper1626

insuave1657

untoward1662

physicala1665

asperous1670

unpalatable1682

woolly1687

inelegant1708

smoked1761

impalatable1782

brassy1789

soddena1800

metallic1800

inky1805

unsweetened1817

weedy1851

tinny1873

tangy1875

raw1881

unappetizing1884

twangy1887

stavy1888

toasty1890

soapy1892

stewy1895

gloppy1976

1851 Gen. Board Health: Rep. Soft-water Springs Surrey Sands 54 in Parl. Papers XXIII. 61 The water was slightly opalescent, and had a faint yellow tint... It had a weedy taste.

1868 Trans. Illinois State Agric. Soc. 1865–6 6 638 Weedy, flour made from wheat that has come in contact with a noxious weed imparting an unpleasant smell.

1903 Rep. Work Agric. Exper. Station Univ. Calif. 1901–3 121 Since the butter-maker has no control over the feed of the cows, it was our effort to remove the weedy flavors from the cream so far as it seemed possible to do so by the various methods which occurred to us.

1915 Spatula Jan. 184/1 The rank, weedy odor that marks the various adulterated oils.

1958 R. B. Browne Pop. Beliefs & Pract. from Alabama 236 Weedy milk comes from the cow's teats rubbing against weeds.

2003 Illawarra (Austral.) Mercury (Nexis) 6 Sept. (Sport section) 89 Make sure you leave none of the black lining on the pure white flesh as it will give the fish a weedy taste.

Compounds

C1.

a. Forming parasynthetic adjectives, as weedy-armed, weedy-haired, etc.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > deity > [adjective] > having specific type of hair

snaky1567

viperous1633

weedy-haireda1821

a1821 J. Keats To Fanny in R. M. Milnes Life, Lett. & Lit. Remains Keats (1848) II. 35 That monstrous region, whose dull rivers pour, Ever from their sordid urns unto the shore, Unown'd of any weedy-haired gods.

1831 New Sporting Mag. Dec. 105/1 Those mongrel weedy-legged brutes..would soon be superseded by a better and more lucrative breed.

1904 Jrnl. Agric. & Industry (S. Austral.) 1 May 458 Values show no improvement for any weedy-flavoured or pastry sorts.

2008 Independent 29 Jan. (Extra section) 9/2 For a weedy-armed girl, tests like the monkey bars..are agonising.

b. Forming complementary adjectives, as weedy-looking, weedy-tasting, etc.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > bodily constitution > bodily weakness > [adjective]

wokec897

unstronga900

unmightyeOE

feeblec1175

strengthlessc1175

unwieldc1220

weaka1300

frailc1384

unwieldyc1386

unthendec1425

dissolutec1450

unsure?a1475

feyc1475

simple1477

unfirm1483

unsinewed?1541

wash1548

weakling1557

ladylike1566

silly1567

water weak1592

washya1631

wankle1686

foible1715

unmuscular1725

nerveless1792

wankly1795

shilpit1813

wankya1825

sinewless1829

weedy-looking1835

queachy1859

insubstantiala1861

paper-backed1888

weak-fleshed1967

1835 New Sporting Mag. Aug. 239 The hounds,..are small,..speedy, but not weedy looking animals.

1896 B. E. J. Capes Mill of Silence xlv. 265 Great jets of weedy-smelling water.

1989 Times (Nexis) 4 Feb. A weedy-sounding Led Zeppelin..roped in to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Atlantic Records.

2015 Australian (Nexis) 9 May (Life section) 4 The cheaper the wines were, the less obvious the oak flavours were, but the fruit often tended to be sweeter yet more weedy-tasting at the same time.

C2.

weedy-brown adj. rare brown with weeds; of a brown colour reminiscent of weeds.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > colour > named colours > brown or brownness > [adjective] > light brown

parchment1597

whited brown1650

whitey-brown1658

coffee-coloured1695

dust-coloured1800

ochre-brown1853

blonde1866

biscuit1875

weedy-brown1886

mousy1888

bisque1890

toast-coloured1898

suntan1923

sunblush1930

rachel1951

1886 Frank Leslie's Pop. Monthly Apr. 452/1 The tide had receded. This part of the beach was now dotted with gnawed and weedy brown rocks.

1940 A. I. Gates & J. Y. Ayer Let's go Ahead 364 Dark green at high-water mark, Weedy-brown at low.

1958 J. Betjeman Coll. Poems 263 A mounting arch of water weedy-brown.

2013 J. Woods in D. H. Smith Dallas Noir iii. 269 Her chin-length weedy-brown hair smelled of coconut crème rinse.

† weedy-slow adv. poetic Obsolete extremely slowly.Apparently an isolated use.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > manner of action > slowness of action or operation > [adverb]

lateeOE

latelyOE

heavilyc1000

hoolya1340

slowlyc1384

slowa1398

sluggedlyc1450

tarryingly1530

loiteringly1547

sluggishly1565

languishingly1579

limpingly1579

lingeringly1589

tarde1598

unnimbly1607

longsomelyc1610

tardilya1616

languidly1655

heavy1701

slack1854

snailishly1889

tharfly1894

pole pole1902

weedy-slow1921

1921 E. Sitwell in Athenæum 21 Jan. 64/1 In the castles drownèd long ago Where the empty years pass weedy-slow.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2019; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	weedy
释义	weedyadj.¹ Brit. /ˈwiːdi/, U.S. /ˈwidi/ Forms: see weed n.¹ and -y suffix¹. Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: weed n.¹, -y suffix¹. Etymology: < weed n.¹ + -y suffix¹. 1. a. Full of or overgrown with weeds; characterized by an abundance of weeds. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > land suitable for cultivation > [adjective] > cleared > not cleared or overgrown unclean?1440 weedy?1440 spare1508 unweeded1604 uncleared1623 twitchy1652 uncured1719 turfy1733 mushroomed1886 tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) Tab. l. 219 (MED) Lond, weet, wodi, wedi, or stony, to remedie. 1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 27 Wheate delighteth in a leuell, riche, warme, and a drye ground: a shaddowy, weedy, and a hilly ground, it loueth not. 1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene iv. x. sig. K5^v But I..Like warie Hynd within the weedie soyle, For no intreatie would forgoe so glorious spoyle. View more context for this quotation 1608 J. Donne Lett. (1651) 50 A sullen weedy lake, where I could not have so much as exercise for my swimming. 1611 Bible (King James) Jer. xlix. 21 (margin) [The] weedie Sea [main text The noise thereof was heard in the red Sea] . View more context for this quotation 1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry 100 If Wheat is weedy it must lie upon the Gravel. 1767 A. Young Farmer's Lett. 261 Dividing the field in such a manner as to give each method a fair proportion of the weedy and clean parts. 1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin II. xxxii. 179 The wagon rolled up a weedy gravel walk. 1876 Country 6 July 12/2 Nothing could well answer better on foul fallows in such a weedy season as the present. 1914 ‘I. Hay’ Knight on Wheels xiv. 181 The garden was weedy and the lawn unshaven. 2010 New Yorker 26 July 50/1 A dry and weedy grove with a view of the blue sea. b. figurative and in figurative contexts. ΚΠ 1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Dec. 122 I haue Nought reaped but a weedye crop of care. 1628 W. Prynne Briefe Suruay Mr. Cozens 15 The infallibilitie of the Church of Rome, from whose weedie Garden, this Garland of Deuotion hath beene gathered. 1674 Defensio Legis xiii. 16 I wonder what Goblin doth prompt some to hearken to these infectious Charmers, the Fatlings of Sedition; when 'tis visible by late Practices, their weedy Positions are ugly Spiders, though wrapt in webs of Musk. 1700 R. Blackmore Isaiah xv, in Paraphr. Job 257 The swift Assassins of the Flood shall sport Within thy Monarch's weedy Court. 1762 J. Duncan Ess. on Happiness iii. 64 The fond parent rears the tardy seeds Of moral truth, tending with ceaseless care The weedy garden of the youthful mind. 1859 G. Meredith Ordeal Richard Feverel I. xiii. 187 A sad downfall if we forget what human nature, in its green weedy Spring, is composed of. 1892 Daily Tel. 31 Aug. 5/4 [The library] of the Church House is still scrappy, weedy and incomplete. 1916 National Mag. 44 83/1 The fall of his house, that incorporeal house in the midst of the somewhat weedy garden of his youthful promises and resolutions. 1997 Marvels & Tales 11 23 This essay would be a weedier garden without these generous responses. 2. a. Of a plant: of the nature of or resembling a weed. Also: made or consisting of weeds. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > valued plants and weeds > [adjective] > resembling or consisting of weed(s) weedy?1585 weeden1599 weed-like1713 roguish1762 ?1585 W. C. Aduentures Ladie Egeria sig. G2^v A foul weedy stincking nettle, bespringled and mayed with vnsauory white blossoms. 1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iv. vii. 146 When downe the weedy trophies and her selfe Fell in the weeping Brooke. View more context for this quotation 1610 G. Fletcher Christs Victorie 61 Let..nettles, kixe, and all the weedie nation, With emptie elders grow, sad signes of desolation. 1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farming 349 The Sheep..in quest of their weedy Food. 1753 R. Dodsley Agric. in Public Virtue i. ii. 94 His new machine; form'd to exterminate The weedy race. 1881 G. Allen Evolutionist at Large 44 Thus the crowfoot, too, cannot blossom to any purpose below the water;..only those lucky individuals whose chance lot it was to grow a little taller and weedier than the rest..have handed down their race to our time. 1885 Liverpool Daily Post 30 June 4/6 Grasping in their tired little hands the weedy spoils of the hedgerow. 1906 Broad Views Nov. 417 The many becalmed sailing ships that lie rotting in the weedy tangle of the Sargasso Sea. 1928 Garden & Home Builder Aug. 547/3 Nanceanus, and the vigorous weedy, hooded Primulinus with their slender graceful stalk—this merging process has brought out many sturdy new sorts. 2013 Times Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) (Nexis) 13 Apr. (Final ed.) f6 A tall Rosa glauca, once swamped with weedy growth, now sits pristinely mulched and graced with new Cistus shrubs around its base. b. In figurative contexts. ΚΠ 1587 W. Segar Blazon of Papistes sig. C3 The Deuill sowes these tares among the good... This weedy seede doth spring from wicked Roome, And scattered heere, to spoyle and ruinate, Our common quiet and our happye state. 1658 C. Gilbert Blessed Peace-maker 89 Peace is such a Blessing, and the work thereof so weighty and excellent, that we should be willing to dig deep for it, and bury all our weedy corruptions in the dressing thereof. 1735 J. Thomson Greece: 2nd Pt. Liberty (Dublin ed.) 12 Thrice happy Land! Had not neglected Art, with weedy Vice Confounded, sunk. 1799 L. Booker Hop-garden 81 Clear it of weedy vices, and give space For Virtue to shoot forth. 1835 J. Waterworth Exam. Princ. Protestantism 9 These weedy prejudices never will be torn up. 1888 D. C. Murray Weaker Vessel I. xiv. 233 Some of them are clever in a way; rooted fools by nature, who bear a weedy little blossom of wit, and suppose themselves to flower all over. 1901 Art Rec. 21 Sept. 495/2 This ill-bred ‘new art’ is offered to them from every corner in Europe by the art reviews; and the one or two weedy ideas that run through it sow fresh crops wherever the seed falls. 1961 Tri-State Defender (Memphis, Tennessee) 28 Apr. We can not sow weedy ideas, or weedy actions and hope to reap wholesome behavior patterns. 2003 M. Menon Wanton Words (2004) ii. 54 A universe in which weedy vice is screened by the flower of royal language. 3. Esp. of hair: tangled, matted; straggly. ΚΠ 1762 Gentleman's Mag. June 254/2 The hair of the head rather coarser and more weedy than that of an infant. 1795 A. Yearsley Royal Captives I. 175 Now horrors stiffen in their weedy hair, And thrice they lave their heads amid the tide. 1866 H. F. Parker Frank's Search for Sea-shells viii. 162 Bivalves of a glossy brown, much wrinkled by lines of growth, and having long weedy threads growing from the epidermis at one end. 1874 F. C. Burnand My Time xxvi. 238 A long-legged gentleman with weedy whiskers. 1922 Life 7 Dec. 19/1 Weedy hair straggled down over his ears and a furtive look shot from his little, beady eyes. 2006 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 12 Oct. (Late ed.) g11/5 Weedy hair and beards, shredded trousers and oddball specs. 4. colloquial. Cf. weed n.¹ 9. a. With reference to the build of an animal (esp. a horse or dog): lean, leggy, and lacking in physical strength or stamina. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > [adjective] > of animals;ill mesela1400 unkind1761 weedy1799 1799 Sporting Mag. Dec. 107/2 The poor, slight, weedy, spindle-shanked stock of brood mares. 1843 R. S. Surtees Handley Cross I. vii. 136 Cook says a weedy hound is only fit to 'unt a cat in a kitchen. 1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms I. xi. 145 We drafted out all the worst and weediest of the cattle. 1902 A. W. Marchmont Sarita the Carlist viii. 92 I lashed the horse into so much of a gallop as its weary, weedy legs were capable of achieving. 1928 V. G. Perry Boston Terrier xxxii. 153 The little weedy dog will never get far in the Boston terrier world. 2003 Sunday Herald Sun (Melbourne) (Nexis) 6 July 6 Jim had arrived on a weedy pony called Mungo. b. With reference to a person's physique: tall and thin, esp. extremely or unhealthily so; lanky and lacking in physical strength or stamina; (now usually more generally) weak or weak-looking. Sometimes also without reference to physical qualities: lacking strength of character; spineless, weak-willed. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > [adjective] > in state of ill health or diseased > weak unmightyeOE unferea1060 unwieldc1220 fade1303 lewc1325 weak1340 fainta1375 sicklyc1374 unwieldyc1386 impotent1390 delicatea1398 lowa1398 unmighta1450 unlustyc1450 low-brought1459 wearyc1480 failed1490 worn1508 caduke?1518 fainty1530 weak1535 debile1536 fluey1545 tewly?1547 faltering1549 puling1549 imbecilec1550 debilitate1552 flash1562 unable1577 unhealthful1595 unabled1597 whindling1601 infirm1608 debilitated1611 bedrid1629 washya1631 silly1636 fluea1645 tender1645 invaletudinary1661 languishant1674 valetudinaire?c1682 puly1688 thriftless1693 unheartya1699 wishy-washy1703 enervate1706 valetudinarian1713 lask1727 wersh1755 palliea1774 wankle1781 asthenic1789 atonic1792 squeal1794 adynamic1803 worn-down1814 totterish1817 asthenical1819 prostrate1820 used up1823 wankya1825 creaky1834 groggy1834 puny1838 imbeciled1840 rickety-rackety1840 muscleless1841 weedy1849 tottery1861 crocky1880 wimbly-wambly1881 ramshackle1889 twitterly1896 twittery1907 wonky1919 strung out1959 the world > life > the body > bodily height > tallness > [adjective] > and thin maypolea1635 gangrel1650 gangling1764 tanglec1817 lanky1818 langrel1847 weedy1849 spindled1855 tangly1855 rangy1857 lanikin1862 gangly1871 orming1903 spiderish1935 leptosomic1936 leptosomatic1937 the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [adjective] > weak in character or will nesheOE feeblec1200 softc1275 weaka1425 infirm1526 lithya1533 unheaded1577 spiritless1595 pappy1597 irresolute1600 marrowless1607 seducible1613 wax-nosedc1615 unsinewy?1623 reedy1628 swayable1642 short-spirited1647 weak-headed1654 lath-backed1676 will-less?1680 tiffany-trader1702 weak-minded1716 lax1751 lax-fibred1762 nerveless1783 wishy-washy1801 marcid1822 molluscous1836 boneless1848 weedy1849 putty-headed1857 flabby1862 weak-kneed1863 fibreless1864 invertebrate1867 chinless1881 backboneless1882 featherweight1885 spineless1885 weak-willed1885 totter-kneed1887 akratic1896 effete1905 weakling1906 gutless1915 willowish1919 Milquetoast1932 nannified1960 ball-less1967 1849 R. S. Surtees Soapey Sponge's Sporting Tour xxiii, in New Monthly Mag. Sept. 103 ‘Nice size too,’ continued he,..‘plenty of substance... Hate a weedy woman—fifteen two and a half—that's to say, five feet four's plenty of height for a woman.’ a1865 E. C. Gaskell Wives & Daughters (1866) I. viii. 91 Grace..is looking rather pale and weedy. 1892 Nation 21 Apr. 295/3 In order to fill the ranks large numbers of weedy men have been enlisted. 1913 ‘M. Sinclair’ Combined Maze xxviii. 312 His feet and legs were swollen; they were like enormous weights attached to his pitifully weedy body. 1929 D. Hammett Red Harvest ii. 15 We were about the same age. He was weedy, nearly a head taller than I, but fifty pounds lighter. 1971 Petticoat 24 July 4/3 I'm just too weedy, I don't threaten to expose them. 2010 P. Murray Skippy Dies 201 Hot girls like her don't go out with weedy losers. c. gen. Lacking potency, impact, or significance; weak, flimsy; insubstantial; (with reference to sound) lacking fullness, volume, or depth. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > manner of action > lack of violence, severity, or intensity > [adjective] > weak (of immaterial things) thin?c1225 wateryc1230 feeble1393 wash1548 waterish1549 fadea1554 limping1577 dilute1605 lank1607 languid1622 water gruel1630 invalid1635 sinewless1644 exsanguine1647 flaccid1647 diluted1681 wishy-washy1693 tiffany1694 foible1715 rickety1738 faintly1771 unrobust1775 pale1820 peely-wally1832 muscleless1841 weakling1848 weedy?1858 feeblose1882 papery1924 ?1858 Queen v. Brown & Others (Queen's Bench) 20 An institution..unnaturally forced by the stimuli of larger additions of capital than were immediately needed, would, most probably, like an unhealthy sapling, run up prematurely into a weak and weedy tree, and as speedily die. 1874 York Herald 23 Dec. 6/2 In the latter choir a few weedy voices. 1939 E. C. Buehler & M. Maloney You sell with your Voice iv. 29 Thin, weedy sounds with little life or body. 1950 Chambers's Jrnl. Mar. 131/1 He must have conveyed this to her in one way or another, because soon afterwards she sent back his presents, and the weedy friendship which might have blossomed into a beautiful love was nipped in the bud. 1954 G. Willans How to be Topp vi. 69 Successful conkers are always shriveled and weedy. 2002 Cycle World Apr. 53 The end result was simply not a very good motorcycle. Its frame..was a dreadfully weedy structure. 5. Of a taste or smell: reminiscent of weeds; made unpleasant or otherwise affected by contact with weeds. Also: having a taste or smell of this kind. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > taste and flavour > unsavouriness > [adjective] > unpalatable unsweetc1440 boisterous1483 untasty1566 untoothsome1576 twice sod1601 coarse1607 irrelishable1608 asper1626 insuave1657 untoward1662 physicala1665 asperous1670 unpalatable1682 woolly1687 inelegant1708 smoked1761 impalatable1782 brassy1789 soddena1800 metallic1800 inky1805 unsweetened1817 weedy1851 tinny1873 tangy1875 raw1881 unappetizing1884 twangy1887 stavy1888 toasty1890 soapy1892 stewy1895 gloppy1976 1851 Gen. Board Health: Rep. Soft-water Springs Surrey Sands 54 in Parl. Papers XXIII. 61 The water was slightly opalescent, and had a faint yellow tint... It had a weedy taste. 1868 Trans. Illinois State Agric. Soc. 1865–6 6 638 Weedy, flour made from wheat that has come in contact with a noxious weed imparting an unpleasant smell. 1903 Rep. Work Agric. Exper. Station Univ. Calif. 1901–3 121 Since the butter-maker has no control over the feed of the cows, it was our effort to remove the weedy flavors from the cream so far as it seemed possible to do so by the various methods which occurred to us. 1915 Spatula Jan. 184/1 The rank, weedy odor that marks the various adulterated oils. 1958 R. B. Browne Pop. Beliefs & Pract. from Alabama 236 Weedy milk comes from the cow's teats rubbing against weeds. 2003 Illawarra (Austral.) Mercury (Nexis) 6 Sept. (Sport section) 89 Make sure you leave none of the black lining on the pure white flesh as it will give the fish a weedy taste. Compounds C1. a. Forming parasynthetic adjectives, as weedy-armed, weedy-haired, etc. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > deity > [adjective] > having specific type of hair snaky1567 viperous1633 weedy-haireda1821 a1821 J. Keats To Fanny in R. M. Milnes Life, Lett. & Lit. Remains Keats (1848) II. 35 That monstrous region, whose dull rivers pour, Ever from their sordid urns unto the shore, Unown'd of any weedy-haired gods. 1831 New Sporting Mag. Dec. 105/1 Those mongrel weedy-legged brutes..would soon be superseded by a better and more lucrative breed. 1904 Jrnl. Agric. & Industry (S. Austral.) 1 May 458 Values show no improvement for any weedy-flavoured or pastry sorts. 2008 Independent 29 Jan. (Extra section) 9/2 For a weedy-armed girl, tests like the monkey bars..are agonising. b. Forming complementary adjectives, as weedy-looking, weedy-tasting, etc. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > bodily constitution > bodily weakness > [adjective] wokec897 unstronga900 unmightyeOE feeblec1175 strengthlessc1175 unwieldc1220 weaka1300 frailc1384 unwieldyc1386 unthendec1425 dissolutec1450 unsure?a1475 feyc1475 simple1477 unfirm1483 unsinewed?1541 wash1548 weakling1557 ladylike1566 silly1567 water weak1592 washya1631 wankle1686 foible1715 unmuscular1725 nerveless1792 wankly1795 shilpit1813 wankya1825 sinewless1829 weedy-looking1835 queachy1859 insubstantiala1861 paper-backed1888 weak-fleshed1967 1835 New Sporting Mag. Aug. 239 The hounds,..are small,..speedy, but not weedy looking animals. 1896 B. E. J. Capes Mill of Silence xlv. 265 Great jets of weedy-smelling water. 1989 Times (Nexis) 4 Feb. A weedy-sounding Led Zeppelin..roped in to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Atlantic Records. 2015 Australian (Nexis) 9 May (Life section) 4 The cheaper the wines were, the less obvious the oak flavours were, but the fruit often tended to be sweeter yet more weedy-tasting at the same time. C2. weedy-brown adj. rare brown with weeds; of a brown colour reminiscent of weeds. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > colour > named colours > brown or brownness > [adjective] > light brown parchment1597 whited brown1650 whitey-brown1658 coffee-coloured1695 dust-coloured1800 ochre-brown1853 blonde1866 biscuit1875 weedy-brown1886 mousy1888 bisque1890 toast-coloured1898 suntan1923 sunblush1930 rachel1951 1886 Frank Leslie's Pop. Monthly Apr. 452/1 The tide had receded. This part of the beach was now dotted with gnawed and weedy brown rocks. 1940 A. I. Gates & J. Y. Ayer Let's go Ahead 364 Dark green at high-water mark, Weedy-brown at low. 1958 J. Betjeman Coll. Poems 263 A mounting arch of water weedy-brown. 2013 J. Woods in D. H. Smith Dallas Noir iii. 269 Her chin-length weedy-brown hair smelled of coconut crème rinse. † weedy-slow adv. poetic Obsolete extremely slowly.Apparently an isolated use. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > manner of action > slowness of action or operation > [adverb] lateeOE latelyOE heavilyc1000 hoolya1340 slowlyc1384 slowa1398 sluggedlyc1450 tarryingly1530 loiteringly1547 sluggishly1565 languishingly1579 limpingly1579 lingeringly1589 tarde1598 unnimbly1607 longsomelyc1610 tardilya1616 languidly1655 heavy1701 slack1854 snailishly1889 tharfly1894 pole pole1902 weedy-slow1921 1921 E. Sitwell in Athenæum 21 Jan. 64/1 In the castles drownèd long ago Where the empty years pass weedy-slow. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2019; most recently modified version published online June 2022). weedyadj.² Brit. /ˈwiːdi/, U.S. /ˈwidi/ Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: weed n.², -y suffix¹. Etymology: < weed n.² + -y suffix¹. Compare earlier weeded adj.³ Now rare. Wearing mourning clothes, esp. widow's weeds (see weed n.² 6a). Frequently modifying widow. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > wearing clothing > [adjective] > wearing clothing for specific people > wearing widow's clothing weeded1788 weedy1848 1848 H. W. Longfellow Jrnl. 16 Oct. in S. Longfellow Life H. W. Longfellow (1891) II. iv. 133 A weedy woman came sweeping up to us, and introduced herself as an admirer. 1849 C. Dickens David Copperfield (1850) xvii. 181 She still wore weeds. I think there was some compromise in the cap; but otherwise she was as weedy as in the early days of her mourning. 1887 A. Jessopp Arcady 155 Think of the blank despair that would take hold of the weedy widows and desolate orphans when they applied for their share of the surplus. 1974 R. Gardner Adventures Don Juan xi. 132 There were others as sedate as she, but most were wrinkled and all wore black: the weedy widows and old wives. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2019; most recently modified version published online December 2021). < adj.¹?1440adj.²1848
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weedyadj.1

Compounds

weedyadj.2

weedyadj.¹

weedyadj.²