airy
Americanadjective
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open to a free current of fresh air; breezy.
airy rooms.
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consisting of or having the character of air; immaterial.
airy phantoms.
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light in appearance; thin.
airy garments.
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light in manner; sprightly; lively.
airy songs.
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light in movement; graceful; delicate.
an airy step.
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light as air; unsubstantial; unreal; imaginary.
airy dreams.
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visionary; speculative.
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performed in the air; aerial.
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lofty; high in the air.
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putting on airs; affected; snobbish.
an airy debutante posing for society photographers.
adjective
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abounding in fresh air
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spacious or uncluttered
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nonchalant; superficial
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visionary; fanciful
airy promises
airy plans
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of or relating to air
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weightless and insubstantial
an airy gossamer
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light and graceful in movement
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having no material substance
airy spirits
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high up in the air; lofty
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performed in the air; aerial
noun
Etymology
Origin of airy
Explanation
An airy place is full of fresh air. Other airy things are either light like air or without substance like air. Air surrounds us, and it has a lot of meanings. If a place is described as airy, that means it's full of fresh air. An open stadium is airy, while a stuffy apartment is not. If a house has lots of open windows, it's airy. Also, an argument that has no substance can be called airy, because there's nothing to it. Light things are airy too: a flimsy, light dress or a low-fat dessert could both be called airy.
Vocabulary lists containing airy
With the Fire on High
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"The Tempest," Vocabulary from a soliloquy
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Those Kids from Fawn Creek
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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.
In 2022, she and members of her lab designed and 3D-printed a flexible and versatile tool known as an Airy beam-enabled binary acoustic metasurface that allowed them to manipulate ultrasound beams.
From Science Daily • Jun. 17, 2024
Pond's successor, George Airy, became fed up of this and limited the access to once a week, on a Monday.
From BBC • May 27, 2024
"It really looked apocalyptic," said festival volunteer Evi Airy.
From Reuters • Sep. 4, 2023
In Mount Airy, N.C., the hometown of actor Andy Griffith, which bills itself as the fictional and idyllic Mayberry of the 1960s “Andy Griffith Show,” we meet Wendy Odum.
From Washington Post • Aug. 26, 2022
Airy was a fierce little boy with a sword, and I’m just a grey mouse girl with a pail.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.