bally

English

Etymology 1

Alteration of bloody.

Pronunciation

• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) Rhymes: -æli

Adjective

bally (not comparable)

1. (British, dated, euphemistic) Bloody (used as a mild intensifier).

   He's just a bally idiot.

   • 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “VII, VIII, AND XV”, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC, pages However, be that as it may and whether you liked the bally thing or didn't, the point was that it had vanished [...] It amazed me that I could have allowed myself to be let in for a binge of this description simply because a woman wished it. Too bally chivalrous for our own good, we Woosters, and always have been. [...] “When you hear me burst into song, you'll know there's peril afoot and you'll have plenty of time to nip out of the window.” “And break my bally neck?” [...] “Nothing can possibly go wrong.” “Just as you say, sir. But I still have that feeling.” The blood of the Woosters is hot, and I was about to tell him in set terms what I thought of his bally feeling, when I suddenly spotted what it was that was making him crab the act.:

Adverb

bally (not comparable)

1. (UK, dated, euphemistic) Very.

   That was a bally foolish thing to do, old chap!

Usage notes

• Bally is used by the British upper classes, as well as lower classes in the East End of London.

Synonyms

• blasted, dashed

References

• “bally”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Etymology 2

+‎ -y.

Noun

bally (plural ballies)

1. (MLE) A balaclava.

Anagrams

• lylab