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windy

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Windy

English

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Tree on a windy day

Etymology 1

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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”).

The “frightened” sense probably derives from the phrase have the wind up.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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windy (comparative windier, superlative windiest)

  1. Accompanied by wind.
    Alternative form: (Internet slang, deliberate misspelling) wimdy
    Synonyms: blowy, blustery, breezy
    Antonyms: calm, windless
    It was a long and windy night.
    • 2017 June 15, Hiufu Wong, “11 extreme weather records”, in CNN‎[1]:
      “Everybody is interested in extremes – the hottest, the wettest, the windiest – so creating a database of professionally verified records is useful in that fact alone,” says Randall Cerveny from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
    • 2019 October 24, Jack Guy, “Humid, windy days worse for pain, says new study”, in CNN‎[2]:
      Humid, windy days with low pressure make pain worse in those with long-term health conditions, according to new research.
    • 2021 August 12, Katie Hunt, “Mammoths were the original ‘ice road truckers,’ traveling vast distances across the Arctic”, in CNN‎[3]:
      […] Higher windier locations can some times provide a relief from these insects during the growing season.”
  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.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:verbose
  5. (informal) Flatulent.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus: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.
Translations
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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

Noun

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windy (plural windies)

  1. (colloquial) A fart.
Translations
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Etymology 2

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Etymology tree
Middle English wynden
English wind
Proto-Indo-European *-kos
Proto-Germanic *-gaz
Proto-West Germanic *-g
Old English -iġ
Middle English -y
English -y
English windy

    From wind (“to curve, bend”) + -y.

    Pronunciation

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    Adjective

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    windy (comparative windier, superlative windiest)

    1. (of a path etc) Having many bends; winding, twisting or tortuous.
    Usage notes
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    Due to ambiguity with the homograph described above, the word winding is generally preferred in print.

    Derived terms
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    Translations
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    Etymology 3

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    Variant of window.

    Noun

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    windy (plural windies)

    1. (Ireland) A window.
      • 1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 537:
        "You see it there, yondher, forenint you, at the bottom of the sthreet, wid the light in the winddy; or, stay, shure it's mysilf id think little of runnin' down wid you, poor crathurs!"
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