choppy

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English chop

Proto-Indo-European *-kos

Proto-Germanic *-gaz

Proto-West Germanic *-g

Old English -iġ

Middle English -y

English -y

English choppy

From chop + -y.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃɒ.pi/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃɑ.pi/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒpi

Adjective

choppy (comparative choppier, superlative choppiest)

1. (of the surface of water) Having many small, rough waves.
   • 1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 17, in Well Tackled!‎^[1]:

     Commander Birch was a trifle uneasy when he found there was more than a popple on the sea; it was, in fact, distinctly choppy.

   • 2022 November 30, “Network News: First pays out interim dividend after reporting £37m pre-tax profit”, in RAIL, number 971, page 24:

     Safely navigating choppy waters has allowed FirstGroup to pay its first interim dividend for almost a decade, and only its second since payments restarted in August.

   • 2024 October 31, Stephanie Amante-Ritter, “The Best Exotic Nanite Hotel” (12:39 from the start), in Star Trek: Lower Decks‎^[2], season 5, episode 3, spoken by Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid):

     “Huh, this lazy river seems like it's getting pretty choppy.”

2. Discontinuous, intermittent.

   The sound is choppy in this video.

   (This entry needs a sound clip exemplifying the definition.)

3. (of wind) Shifting, variable

Derived terms

• choppily
• choppiness

Related terms

• choppy-changey

Translations

having many small, rough waves

• Bulgarian: развълнуван (bg) (razvǎlnuvan)
• Catalan: tempestuós, agitat (ca)
• Czech: rozbouřený, neklidný, zčeřený, zvlněný (cs), rozvlněný
• French: haché (fr), saccadé (fr)
• Galician: picado (gl)
• Irish: útamáilte
• Italian: increspato (it)
• Māori: whenewhene, hīnarunaru, karekare
• Spanish: picado (es), encrespado (es)
• Swedish: krabb (sv)

discontinuous, intermittent

• Arabic: مُتَقَطِّع (mutaqaṭṭiʕ)
• Bikol:

  Central Bikol: ragana

• Bulgarian: накъсан (bg) (nakǎsan)
• Catalan: entretallat
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 斷斷續續 / 断断续续 (zh) (duànduànxùxù)

• Czech: trhaný, přerušovaný
• Spanish: entrecortado (es)

of wind

• Bulgarian: поривист (bg) (porivist)

See also

• chops