filmy

American  

[fil-mee] / ˈfɪl mi /

adjective

filmier, filmiest

1. thin and light; fine and gauzy.

   a gown of a filmy material.

2. hazy or misty; glazed.

   filmy eyes.

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filmy British  

/ ˈfɪlmɪ /

adjective

1. composed of or resembling film; transparent or gauzy

2. covered with or as if with a film; hazy; blurred

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Other Word Forms

• filminess
  noun
• filmily
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of filmy

First recorded in 1595–1605; film + -y ¹

Explanation

Something that's filmy is light and translucent. Filmy white curtains are especially pretty when the sun shines through them and they blow in the breeze. The adjective filmy often describes fabric that you can almost see through, like a filmy dress you wear to the prom. A filmy layer of light might rest on the surface of water, and your old dog might have filmy eyes. In all of these examples, the filmy thing is nearly as thin as a film or membrane: the word stems from the Old English filmen, "membrane or thin skin."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

filmy filmier filmiest

The only ones I tend to avoid are neutral vegetable oil, which can make the whole thing feel a little filmy, and coconut oil, unless that is a flavor you specifically want to chase.

From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026

Curiously, the style game of Punjabi musicians - from hip-hop, R&B, bhangra pop, fusion, Punjabi rap, reggae or filmy music - has also remained rooted and androgynous, instead of being hyper masculine.

From BBC ● May 31, 2025

Smoke lent artificial darkness and a filmy quality to the light in areas far from the conflagration.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2025

This filmy mosaic selectively permits charged lithium ions to cross during discharge and controls movement of electrons that supply the battery's power.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 28, 2023

He opened the doors, letting the filmy white curtains flutter out into the afternoon.

From "Huntress" by Malinda Lo

The lower sleeves are golden, a line of white at the wrist, and a filmier one within the bodice.

From Holbein by Beatrice Fortescue

Our normal waking consciousness is but one special type of consciousness, whilst all about it, parted from it by the filmiest of screens, there lie potential forms of consciousness entirely different.

From Time Magazine Archive

The walls and floors were made of the sheerest, filmiest spider's-web, woven into a thousand delicate patterns.

From Miss Muffet's Christmas Party by Samuel McChord Crothers

Above these they could see a range of sharp-peaked mountains that still caught the sunlight, some crystal white with snow, others muffled by clouds turned to iris-hued scarfs of filmiest gauze.

From Ewing\'s Lady by Harry Leon Wilson

Science can now educe threads of such exquisite tenuity that only the feet of the tiniest infant-spiders can ascend them; but up the filmiest insubstantiality Shelley runs with agile ease. 

From Shelley; an essay by Francis Thompson

A white lace overdress of filmiest texture fell over the velvet, almost touching the wreath of lilies, and looked as though it was made of sea foam.

From Mizora: A Prophecy A MSS. Found Among the Private Papers of the Princess Vera Zarovitch by Mary E. Bradley Lane