dippy

English

Etymology

Etymology tree
English dip
Proto-Indo-European *-kos
Proto-Germanic *-gaz
Proto-West Germanic *-g
Old English -iġ
Middle English -y
English -y
English dippy

    From dip + -y.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈdɪpi/
    • Audio (Southern England):(file)
    • Rhymes: -ɪpi

    Adjective

    dippy (comparative dippier, superlative dippiest)

    1. (informal) Lacking common sense.
      Synonyms: dappy, dotty
      • 1922, “Beautify Gillette”, in The Republican‎[1], volume 1, number 22, page 1:
        If a person were to wash only one side of his face and continually neglect the other side, he would soon become a local curiosity–would be considered dippy.
      • 1957, Nevil Shute [pseudonym; Nevil Shute Norway], On the Beach‎[2], London: William Heinemann:
        “He’s dippy,” she informed him. “Absolutely mad. He’ll wreck your ship for you.”
      • 2001 October 26, Peter Bradshaw, “Legally Blonde review – Reese Witherspoon law school comedy recycles Clueless to lame effect”, in The Guardian‎[3], →ISSN:
        This so-so comedy has [Reese] Witherspoon as the dippy-yet-smart sorority girl whose ambitious Wasp boyfriend dumps her because she’s a natural blonde, and he’s looking to marry “Jackie not Marilyn”; so she gets a place in his class at Harvard law school to win him back.
    2. (informal) Having romantic feelings for; excited or enthusiastic about.
      • 1912, Clara E. Laughlin, chapter 4, in The Penny Philanthropist‎[4], New York: Fleming H. Revell, page 41:
        “I’ve read in the papers that ye’re dippy about secon’-hand stuff,” she teased, referring to his mania for antiques […]
      • 1949, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter 16, in The Mating Season, London: Herbert Jenkins, page 145:
        ‘ […] If you’re dippy about a girl, and another fellow has grabbed her, it can’t be pleasant to sit at a writing table, probably with a rotten pen, sweating away while the other fellow dictates “My own comma precious darling period I worship you comma I adore you period How I wish comma my dearest comma that I could press you to my bosom and cover your lovely face with burning kisses exclamation mark”. […] ’
    3. (UK, Western Pennsylvania, informal) Of an egg: cooked so that the yolk remains runny and can be used for dipping.
      • 2004, Bernadette Strachan, chapter 20, in The Reluctant Landlady‎[5], London: Hodder & Stoughton, page 230:
        The flat was his domain until ten a.m., he informed her brusquely. He liked reading the paper and partaking of a dippy egg in solitude.
    4. (informal) Involving or suited to dipping.
      • 2001, Janet Mason Tarlov, The Everything Baby's First Food Book, page 257:
        Also, salad dressing makes a great dippy sauce. Avoid low-fat salad dressings, which are usually loaded with fillers, sugar, and sodium.
    5. (informal) Having dips (downward and upward slopes).
      • 2025 August 20, Paul Clifton, “A driver's eye view of East West Rail”, in RAIL, number 1042, page 33:
        "It's not completely flat," Waddicor points out. "It's a bit up and down dippy. The gradients are quite steep compared with traditional lines."

    Derived terms

    Translations

    This page is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.