hairy
Americanadjective
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hairier,
comparative
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hairiest
superlative
adjective
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having or covered with hair
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slang
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difficult or problematic
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scaring, dangerous, or exciting
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Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of hairy
First recorded in 1250–1300, hairy is from the Middle English word heeri. See hair, -y 1
Explanation
Hairy things are furry or fuzzy — covered with hair. If your hairy dog lies on your bed, your bed may end up hairy as well. If your dad has a bushy beard, he has a hairy face, and while some kinds of caterpillars are sleek and smooth, others are hairy. Informally, you can also use hairy to mean "scary." The biggest roller coaster at an amusement park will probably have a few hairy loops and turns. This slang meaning has evolved from its original use as "difficult," dating back to the 1840s.
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:
One win and two defeats is what most people should have expected, albeit the win was hairy and unimpressive.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
"You can kind of picture them like hairy particles," said Moore.
From Science Daily ● May 30, 2026
Scott: I think it might have been a Mexican hairy dwarf porcupine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 6, 2026
As the Washington Post reported before the hearing, Mullin has never served in the military, but he has often told stories alluding to being in hairy situations “overseas” while on “special assignments.”
From Slate ● Mar. 18, 2026
She yelped as black liquid oozed from the open wound and a hairy white spider crept out and skittered away.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
Bumblebees have much hairier bodies than honeybees, making it easier for dust and airborne particles containing heavy metals to cling to them before being carried back to the nest with pollen.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 7, 2026
Things got even hairier when Usha’s execrable husband, Vice President J.D.
From Slate ● Mar. 28, 2025
Criticism has flooded in, including that engineering mammoth-like creatures is a big stretch from making mice hairier, as well as being unethical, and that the whole project is a publicity stunt.
From BBC ● Mar. 4, 2025
The two subspecies look quite similar, but the northern version has subtle physical differences, including hairier ears and feet that are better suited to its swampy habitat.
From National Geographic ● Jan. 24, 2024
To them, the hairier the situation became, the more exciting it was.
From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple
“It was the hairiest thing we’ve ever done because it was so chaotic and impossible to plan. And when I pulled those seconds out, the sequence flew. It was brutal to have to do it.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2023
She said I was the hairiest thing she had ever seen.
From Salon ● Jan. 31, 2021
On Monday night, the loudest cheers were often reserved for the fluffiest, the hairiest and the cutest of the breed winners.
From New York Times ● Feb. 11, 2020
A lumbering, chunky beast clad in a sheep-like coat of hair, it is the hairiest and fattiest of pigs.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 27, 2019
Malik has the hairiest toes, and for the last few weeks, his right big toenail has been all black and blue and yellow because he jammed it doing a backflip.
From "A High Five for Glenn Burke" by Phil Bildner
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.
