windy

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English[edit]

Tree on a windy day

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English windy, from Old English windiġ (“windy”), from Proto-Germanic *windigaz (“windy”), equivalent to wind +‎ -y. Cognate with Saterland Frisian wiendich (“windy”), West Frisian winich (“windy”), Dutch winderig (“windy”), German Low German windig (“windy”), German windig (“windy”), Swedish vindig (“windy”), Icelandic vindugur (“windy”).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈwɪndi/
  • Audio (AU)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪndi

Adjective[edit]

windy (comparative windier, superlative windiest)

  1. Accompanied by wind.
    It was a long and windy night.
  2. Unsheltered and open to the wind.
    They shagged in a windy bus shelter.
  3. Empty and lacking substance.
    They made windy promises they would not keep.
  4. Long-winded; orally verbose.
  5. (informal) Flatulent.
    The Tex-Mex meal had made them somewhat windy.
  6. (slang) Nervous, frightened.
    • 1995, Pat Barker, The Ghost Road, Penguin, published 2014, The Regeneration Trilogy, page 848:
      The thing is he's not windy, he's a perfectly good soldier, no more than reasonably afraid of rifle and machine-gun bullets, shells, grenades.
Synonyms[edit]
Antonyms[edit]
Translations[edit]
orally verbose — see long-winded

Noun[edit]

windy (plural windies)

  1. (colloquial) A fart.
Translations[edit]
fart — see fart

Etymology 2[edit]

wind (“to curve, bend”) +‎ -y

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈwaɪndi/
    • Audio (Southern England)(file)

Adjective[edit]

windy (comparative windier, superlative windiest)

  1. (of a path etc) Having many bends; winding, twisting or tortuous.
Usage notes[edit]

Due to ambiguity with the homograph described above, the word winding is generally preferred in print.

Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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