doughy
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of doughy
Explanation
Something that's doughy is as squishy and soft as uncooked dough. If your cookies always come out a little doughy, you might not be baking them long enough. Some foods are deliberately doughy, like a very soft steamed dumpling or a delicious doughy doughnut. Others are doughy by accident, because they've been undercooked or made incorrectly. You can describe other things as doughy too, if they're cushiony — a kitten might purr as it kneads its mother's doughy belly, for example. Doughy comes from dough, with its Indo-European root meaning "smear" or "knead."
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.
I called Barcelona home for a spell, and I feel the draw to cap this visit by seeing an old doughy friend.
From Salon • Feb. 5, 2026
They have been described by resident Stan Tobin as doughy - "like someone had tried to bake bread and done a lousy job" - with an odour reminiscent of vegetable oil.
From BBC • Oct. 12, 2024
He often presents himself in close-up so his doughy features seem warmly welcoming.
From New York Times • Jan. 19, 2024
Even the doom-laden everything bagel that provides the film’s titular motif is redeemed, by the end, as a doughy symbol of wholeness, a poppy-seed circle of life.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 12, 2023
The rice was judged either too greasy or too dry, the bread declared too doughy or too crispy.
From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini
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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.