sandy
adjective
of the nature of or consisting of sand.
sandy
1 American
[san-dee]
/ ˈsæn di /
sandy
British
/ ˈsændɪ /
adjective
-
consisting of, containing, or covered with sand
-
(esp of hair) reddish-yellow
-
resembling sand in texture
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of sandy
before 1000; Middle English; Old English sandig. See sand, -y 1
Explanation
Something that looks like sand, feels like sand, or is covered in sand is sandy. A sandy beach is lovely; a sandy bed is just uncomfortable. If your dog tracks sand indoors and spreads it all over the place, you've got a sandy house. If your sister's hair is the brownish color of sand, you can describe it as sandy too. And if you spill your ingredients when you're making a cake, you might realize that sugar and flour both look a little sandy when they're on the floor. Sandy comes from the Old English sandig, "of the nature of sand."
Vocabulary lists containing sandy
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:
But in the summer the village with its low houses surrounded by vegetable gardens and fruit trees becomes a tourist hotspot thanks to its long sandy beaches.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
“The Yellow Line is where you see the buildings that stand,” the military official said in the sandy ruins of Shuja’iyya, a neighborhood that saw repeated rounds of fighting during the war.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
It also provides direct access to a sandy beach with a wooden staircase situated around the back of the house.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
Fine, silty material appeared at the bottom, while coarse, sandy sediment sat on top.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 24, 2026
There are high bluffs just upstream, but our site has a sandy shoreline along the river.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
Sandy, 12, said she began wearing a headscarf about a year ago because "I place a lot of importance on my religion and I want to be able to live it".
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
“We have a house in Sandy Springs, which I don’t particularly like. I just don’t. I’m just being honest. But downtown, like Inman Park and all that, I love.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
Rodriguez is survived by his parents, his wife, Sandy, their two sons and his sister-in-law.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
Uttam and Sandy Shiralkar are still coming to terms with the loss of their family home in Stourbridge after it was engulfed by a wildfire in August.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
If you were Indian, you knew all about Sandy June’s, eventually—and if you’re Indian from around here, how to find the Bench Tree opening, a nearly invisible entrance.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
In the drier, sandier areas of the western Kalahari Desert and Namibia, Khoisan speakers remained the dominant group until more recent times.
From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023
Mr McCann says this huge number was necessary because "the same crop can look very different if it was planted in, say, sandier soil compared to soil that gets lots of rain and sun".
From BBC ● Feb. 26, 2023
Muscovado sugar is similar to brown sugar but with a much stronger flavor and a damper, sandier texture...
From Salon ● Dec. 10, 2022
Or the wines of the Marne Valley, where the sandier soils have their own softer expression.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 6, 2019
Cal could hardly have guessed how many sultry miles he travelled before he came suddenly upon a wider, sandier path, bordered by taller bushes, that struck straight across the other.
From The Red Mustang by William O. Stoddard
You reverse what you tried for going up and aim for the sandiest places in order to glissade down.
From Slate ● Oct. 22, 2014
The road was the sandiest and least traveled that he experienced.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 26, 2014
He smacked the ground face-first in the world’s sandiest belly flop.
From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn
"That feller thet jest went out is your brother's new foreman, Ken Douglass, the sandiest galoot an' best cowman on this range," he concluded.
From The Song of the Wolf by Frank Mayer
Soil and location: Grows in the poorest and sandiest soils where few other trees will grow.
From Studies of Trees by Jacob Joshua Levison
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