gossamery

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

From gossamer +‎ -y.

Pronunciation

[edit]

Adjective

[edit]

gossamery (comparative more gossamery, superlative most gossamery)

  1. Like gossamer; flimsy.
    • 1846 April, Thomas De Quincey, “John Keats”, in Sketches: Critical and Biographic (De Quincey’s Works; VI), London: James Hogg & Sons, →OCLC, page 283:
      The Italian poet, [Giambattista] Marino, had been reputed the greatest master of gossamery affectation in Europe.
    • 1916, Jackson Gregory, If the Shoe Fits, Chapter 3:
      She fluttered about him with her hair down in a thick brown braid across each shoulder, and in a gossamery, filmy, lacy “thing”—she had flung her gay-colored cloak upon a chair—that he was very much afraid was not quite a proper thing to wear before a young gentleman whom she had just met.

References

[edit]