Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

brushy

1 American  
[bruhsh-ee] / ˈbrʌʃ i /

adjective

brushier, brushiest
  1. resembling a brush, especially in roughness or shagginess.


brushy 2 American  
[bruhsh-ee] / ˈbrʌʃ i /

adjective

brushier, brushiest
  1. covered or overgrown with brush or brushwood.


brushy 1 British  

adjective

  1. like a brush; thick and furry

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

brushy 2 British  
/ ˈbrʌʃɪ /

adjective

  1. covered or overgrown with brush

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of brushy1

First recorded in 1680–90; brush 1 + -y 1

Origin of brushy2

First recorded in 1650–60; brush 2 + -y 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

By the end of the decade, though, he’d shifted to flatter, less brushy scenes.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 1, 2026

Nearly a dozen fires have, together, consumed more than 26,000 acres of varied terrain in the region over the last week, in remote island chaparral as well as brushy foothills bordering neighborhoods.

From Los Angeles Times May 20, 2026

Both erupted on 7 January as the region saw a strong wind event, making the small blazes in brushy, mountainous areas hard to contain.

From BBC Jan. 30, 2025

Without burning, would the landscape grow so brushy that it would not be able to feed as many of them?

From New York Times Jan. 16, 2024

Min’s house backed onto the beginnings of the foothills and their brushy growth, which gave way to pine-wooded mountains beyond.

From "A Single Shard" by Linda Sue Park

Even before the injury, however, he had been moving toward a brushier, more expressive and more colorful way of painting.

From Seattle Times Aug. 19, 2021

The strongly geometric forms of the early painting evolved into looser, brushier images that teased the idea of figuration.

From New York Times Mar. 9, 2017

Then the cunning beast chose all the lowest and brushiest trees to run under, whose twigs and thorns, like thick besoms, lashed and scratched and scraped his rider.

From The Three Mulla-mulgars by Walter De la Mare

All about the place the straightest and brushiest alders had been cut down, those usually selected being at least ten or twelve feet in height.

From The House in the Water A Book of Animal Stories by Charles Livingston Bull

Loud voices, and then thick clouds of yellow dust, coming from behind the highest and brushiest line of the embankment, attested to the truth of Jean's observation, and also to a reckless disregard of danger.

From To the Last Man by Zane Grey

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training