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

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Etymology

Origin of filmy

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

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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

Eventually her costume provides those around her with filmy plumes, to no pointed effect.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

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

He also visited a creek near the derailment site, releasing a video in which he used a stick to stir a filmy substance in the water that he described as evidence of possible contamination.

From New York Times ● Feb. 24, 2023

Thank God, because yesterday I saw stray dogs splashing in that filmy water, what’s left of it anyway.

From "I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter" by Erika L. Sánchez

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

But this is the way of Love; its filmiest threads easily spin themselves further; and a man once entangled is bound by that unseen chain which links the soul to its destiny.

From The Maid of Maiden Lane by Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr

The filmiest of lace and silken shawls, jeweled slippers, gossamer-gold head dresses, pearls and rubies from India and Persia—all lay in confusion at her hand, and aroused no spark of joy in her breast.

From The Pirate Woman by Aylward Edward Dingle

Her rose maids of honor, in filmiest laces, Loitered and lingered in shy woodland places; And white-vested lilies were ever at prayer; Their vespers, the perfume that sweetened the air.

From Rosemary and Rue by Amber

Sitting opposite each other like this it is quite unnecessary to draw the filmiest veil over our souls, or to hide a corner of them from one another.

From The Undying Past by Hermann Sudermann

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