airy
/ˈɛːri
/adjective (airier, airiest)
1(Of a room or building) spacious, well lit, and well ventilated: the conservatory is light and airy a large, airy room...
- The old ginger wine storage facility has been divided into spacious, airy rooms with stylish features such as Spanish wood doors and window frames and brightly coloured original beams.
- Original - featured cave, real mud floors, open fire, bright airy rooms and fantastic views.
- The room is light, airy, spacious and bright with sweeping stairs leading up to the lounge [Lounge] area.
Synonyms
well ventilated, fresh;
spacious, open, uncrowded, uncluttered;
light, well lit, bright
1.1Delicate, as though filled with or made of air: airy clouds...
- A fine, floating, airy thing they called cloud.
- Sea-urchin roe also accompanies refreshing slices of hamachi, their airy delicacy highlighted by a spry sprinkling of sour-plum vinaigrette.
- The first thing you notice in the garden centre is the delicate, airy foliage.
Synonyms
delicate, soft, fine, feathery, floaty, insubstantial, flimsy, wispy
1.2Giving an impression of light gracefulness and elegance: her airy presence filled the house...
- They have an airy grace and elegance that, to me, symbolises all that is beautiful about oriental gardens.
- The production features dance and live music played by the company, a genuine Broadway fortepiano and sumptuous period costumes, all presented within a light and airy set.
- Amos has kept the tracks light and airy, enhancing the always-attractive melodies with carefully layered vocal arrangements and often applying an arresting twist of processed funkiness.
2Not treating something as serious; casual: her airy unconcern for economy...
- Its driver, insouciant about having one more dent to add to the several he had already accumulated, waved an airy palm of instant forgiveness.
- But I can say with a good conscience and an airy wave of the hand that if you have a different opinion we can all just try our best and in time the truth will emerge.
- I commanded, gesturing him forward with an airy wave of my arm.
Synonyms
nonchalant, casual, breezy, flippant, insouciant;
heedless, unconsidered, uncaring, indifferent, unthinking, unworried, untroubled;
light-hearted, blithe, jaunty, cheerful, unserious, insubstantial
Derivatives
airiness
/ noun ...- The overall effect is spare, spacious, uncluttered corners and a dim airiness suggesting not a vacuum but the unchallenged resilience of colonial attitudes, the finality of officialdom.
- The installation is a combination of airiness and heaviness; the wadding is associated with warmth and the lead buttons with weight.
- It has big, deep glazing, because that provides greater airiness and a better view.
Rhymes
- give someone their due
- give someone their head
- give someone the needle
- give someone the pip
- give someone the shits
- give someone the shudders
- give someone the slip
- give someone the time of day
- give someone the works
- give someone/thing a bad name
- give someone/thing a (good) run for their money
- give someone/thing a wide berth
- give someone/thing best
- give someone/thing the nod
- give someone to understand (or believe or know)
- give someone up
- give someone up for lost
- give someone what for
- give something a miss
- give something away
- give something a whirl
- give something in
- give something out
- give something up
- give something up as a bad job