noun
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a person who lives in the bush
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an unsophisticated uncouth person
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a member of a bush fire brigade
adjective
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covered or overgrown with bushes
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thick and shaggy
bushy eyebrows
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of bushy
First recorded in 1350–1400, bushy is from the Middle English word busshi. See bush 1, -y 1
Explanation
Bushy things have the rounded shape and thick texture of a bush. You could describe your grandfather as having thick gray hair and bushy black eyebrows. You can use the adjective bushy to describe all kinds of things — you might wake up with your curly hair looking quite bushy, or adopt a particularly bushy old cat from the animal shelter. Shrubs are usually bushy, of course, while other plants may grow tall and spindly or spread in a squat and bushy shape. In the 14th century, bushy meant "overgrown with bushes."
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.
Gibbons visited Bushy Park and two days later Reep was on the team coach to Doncaster.
From BBC • Jun. 1, 2022
Bushy, unkempt playoff beards bring postseason success, while touching the Clarence Campbell or Prince of Wales trophies after winning a conference championship spells doom.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 16, 2021
The nights I had imagined with Ashley were not set at Bright Eyes & Bushy Tails Veterinary Hospital, but when Judy finally woke, Ashley’s joy was all-embracing.
From New York Times • Nov. 9, 2018
Parkrun began 14 years ago this week, with a simple idea: a free five-kilometre time-trial around Bushy Park, south west London.
From The Guardian • Oct. 1, 2018
The little I made was augmented by help from Aunt Bushy and Uncle Piet.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
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.
