clammy

[ klam-ee ]

/ ˈklæm i /

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See synonyms for: clammy / clamminess on Thesaurus.com

adjective, clam·mi·er, clam·mi·est.

covered with a cold, sticky moisture; cold and damp: clammy hands.

sickly; morbid: She had a clammy feeling that something was wrong at home.

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Origin of clammy

1350–1400; Middle English, equivalent to Middle English clam sticky, cold and damp + -y-y¹

OTHER WORDS FROM clammy

clam·mi·ly, adverbclam·mi·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use clammy in a sentence

This combination made my skin feel clammy, particularly on my lower back and around my shoulders, where my pack rested.
Long-Term Review: One Year in Patagonia’s R1 Air Hoody|Jeremy Rellosa|February 19, 2021|Outside Online
More penetrating than its clamminess was the thought that Madame de Ferrier was out in it alone.
Lazarre|Mary Hartwell Catherwood
A clamminess, such as others feel at the approach of death, spread over my brow and neck.
Simon the Jester|William J. Locke
Though the root-meaning seems rather that of clamminess or adhesiveness, as found in Sansc.
The River-Names of Europe|Robert Ferguson

They felt it in the cold clamminess of the atmosphere, in the quiet peace of the long corridors.
The Riddle of the Frozen Flame|Mary E. Hanshew
Unless the sea is broken by the wind, there is about it just before dawn a peculiar creeping clamminess.
A Poor Man's House|Stephen Sydney Reynolds

British Dictionary definitions for clammy

clammy

/ (ˈklæmɪ) /

adjective -mier or -miest

unpleasantly sticky; moistclammy hands

(of the weather, atmosphere, etc) close; humid

Derived forms of clammy

clammily, adverbclamminess, noun

Word Origin for clammy

C14: from Old English clǣman to smear; related to Old Norse kleima, Old High German kleimen

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

clammy

Origin of clammy

OTHER WORDS FROM clammy

Words related to clammy

How to use clammy in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for clammy

Derived forms of clammy

Word Origin for clammy