shiny

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: shī'nē, IPA^(key): /ˈʃaɪ.ni/

  • Audio (UK):

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• Rhymes: -aɪni

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

English shine

Proto-Indo-European *-kos

Proto-Germanic *-gaz

Proto-West Germanic *-g

Old English -iġ

Middle English -y

English -y

English shiny

From shine + -y (adjectival suffix).

Adjective

shiny (comparative shinier or more shiny, superlative shiniest or most shiny)

1. Reflecting light.

   Coordinate terms: glossy, glassy

   Antonyms: dull, flat, matte

   • 1920, Will Payne, The Scarred Chin, page 130:

     He was wearing a new, fawn-coloured summer suit and a new straw hat—his trousers the creasiest and his shoes the shiniest. Yet he seemed not to be taking the usual infantile satisfaction in a very smart, correct costume.

   • 2011, Ronke Luke-Boone, African Fabrics: Sewing Contemporary Fashion with Ethic Flair:

     Commercially produced yarn, such as rayon, produces a cloth with a smoother, shinier look than hand-spun cotton, but the uneven, rugged look of hand-spun cotton can be quite appealing.

2. Emitting light.

   Antonym: dark

3. (colloquial) Excellent; remarkable.
   • 2007, Christopher Brookmyre, Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks, →ISBN, page 132:

     We're shiny, Okay?

4. (obsolete) Bright; luminous; clear; unclouded.
   • 1665, John Dryden, Verses to her Royal Highness the Duchess [of York]:

     Like distant thunder on a shiny day.

   • The Lincolnshire Poacher (traditional song)

     When I was bound apprentice in famous Lincolnshire
     Full well I served my master for nigh on seven years
     Till I took up to poaching as you shall quickly hear
     Oh, 'tis my delight on a shiny night in the season of the year.

Derived terms

• bite my shiny metal ass
• bright shiny object
• nonshiny
• shalpha
• shinily
• shininess
• shiny bum
• shiny cowbird
• shiny-floor
• shinyleaf
• subshiny
• unshiny

Related terms

• sunshiny

Translations

reflecting light

• Arabic: بَرَّاق (barrāq), لَامِع (lāmiʕ)
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Azerbaijani: parlaq (az)
• Bashkir: ялтыр (yaltır)
• Bulgarian: блестящ (bg) (blestjašt)
• Catalan: lluent (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 有光澤的 / 有光泽的 (zh) (yǒu guāngzé de)

• Dutch: glanzend (nl), glimmend (nl)
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: kiiltävä (fi)
• French: brillant (fr) m
• Galician: relucente (gl)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: glänzend (de)
• Hindi: चमकीला (hi) (camkīlā)
• Irish: lonrach
• Italian: luccicante (it)
• Jarai: lơluih
• Khmer: ភ្លឺ​ចាំង (phlɨɨ-cang)
• Latvian: dzidrs, gaišs, spodrs, spīdīgs, spožs
• Māori: whero (mi) (obsolete)
• Mongolian: гөлгөр (mn) (gölgör)
• Persian: درخشان (fa) (deraxšân)
• Plautdietsch: blank, blenkjrich
• Polish: błyszczący (pl)
• Portuguese: reluzente (pt)
• Romanian: strălucitor (ro)
• Russian: блестя́щий (ru) (blestjáščij)
• Scottish Gaelic: gleansach
• Spanish: reluciente (es), refulgente (es)
• Swedish: skinande (sv), glittrande (sv)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: parlak (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: چیل (çil)

• Unami: sapële (inanimate)
• Vietnamese: bóng (vi)
• Waigali: pëlëkënë

emitting light

• Bulgarian: светещ (svetešt)
• Catalan: brillant (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 閃光的 / 闪光的 (zh) (shǎnguāng de)

• Finnish: loistava (fi)
• French: brillant (fr) m
• Galician: brillante (gl)
• German: leuchtend (de), funkelnd (de)
• Hindi: चमकीला (hi) (camkīlā)
• Italian: brillante (it), luminoso (it), splendente (it)
• Portuguese: brilhante (pt)
• Russian: светя́щийся (ru) (svetjáščijsja)
• Spanish: brillante (es)
• Swedish: lysande (sv)
• Turkish: ışıldayan

  Ottoman Turkish: چیل (çil)

excellent

• Bulgarian: блестящ (bg) (blestjašt)
• Catalan: brillant (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 出众 (zh) (chūzhòng)

• Finnish: loistava (fi)
• German: wunderbar (de)
• Hindi: उत्कृष्ट (hi) (utkŕṣṭ), श्रेष्ठ (hi) (śreṣṭh)
• Italian: brillante (it)
• Russian: превосходный (ru) (prevosxodnyj), великоле́пный (ru) (velikolépnyj), отли́чный (ru) (otlíčnyj)
• Turkish: fevkalade (tr), olağanüstü (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} blinkend (nl)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} lucente (it), ^{(please verify)} rilucente (it), ^{(please verify)} scintillante (it)
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} fulgēns
• Tagalog: ^{(please verify)} makintab

Etymology 2

From shine + -y (noun suffix).

Noun

shiny (plural shinies)

1. (informal) Anything that glitters; a trinket.
2. (video games) A desirable collectible.

Etymology 3

Contraction of "shiny arse", originated during World War II. [1]

Noun

shiny (plural shinies)

1. (slang, derogatory, dated) A deskworker.