pixilated

American  

[pik-suh-ley-tid] / ˈpɪk səˌleɪ tɪd /

Sometimes pixillated

adjective

1. slightly eccentric or mentally disordered.

2. amusingly whimsical, prankish, silly, or the like.

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pixilated British  

/ ˈpɪksɪˌleɪtɪd /

adjective

1. eccentric or whimsical

2. slang drunk

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Other Word Forms

• pixilation
  noun

Etymology

Origin of pixilated

First recorded in 1840–50, pix(ie) + (tit)illated ( def. )

Explanation

Someone who's pixilated is a bit mischievous and eccentric, like the wacky man in your town who wears rainbow suspenders and breaks into pixilated dance routines in the middle of the library. It's easy to confuse pixilated with pixelated, which means "magnified so much that you can see each individual pixel." But instead of pixels, pixilated comes from pixies, the impish mythical spirits. Most experts believe that the word began as pixie-led, or "led astray by pixies." So if someone you know is acting as silly as if they're under the influence of pixies, you can call them pixilated.

Example Sentences

Some photo booths, like Baltimore-based Pixilated, can even follow the same email address to track the specific events a customer attends.

From The Verge • Apr. 11, 2019

Pixilated camouflage started to catch on in the technophilic years of the late-1990s, a digital pattern for a dot-com world.

From Slate • Jul. 5, 2012

Pixilated camo prints, or at least the theory behind them, arrived long before the fashion craze.

From Slate • Jul. 5, 2012