jim-dandy
Americanadjective
noun
-
jim-dandies
plural
Usage
What does jim-dandy mean? Jim-dandy is an old-timey way to call someone or something great. It’s most commonly used as an adjective, as in That pie was jim-dandy! But it can also be used as a noun, as in That pie was a jim-dandy! The adjective dandy by itself, meaning “excellent” or “first-rate,” is a close synonym. Jim-dandy is also sometimes spelled jim dandy (without the hyphen). The origin of the term isn’t known, but it may be based on the title of an 1840s’ minstrel song about a Black character named “Dandy Jim” that contains racist language and stereotypes.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of jim-dandy
1875–80; special use of Jim (proper name) + dandy ( def. )
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:
I finished up with a jim-dandy meal at Cafe Classico and a drink at the Radisson Lackawanna, the derelict train station in “That Championship Season” that has been resurrected as a spiffy hotel.
From New York Times ● Aug. 27, 2010
I saw right away that Grandpa’s idea was a jim-dandy, but there was one thing that was bothering me.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
What, that last one hardly sank down before it was taken and this seems to be a jim-dandy of a boy too by the way he pulls.
From Dick the Bank Boy Or, A Missing Fortune by Frank V. Webster
Everybody knows you're a jim-dandy at the bat, and a clever fielder in the bargain.
From The Chums of Scranton High Hugh Morgan's Uphill Fight by Donald Ferguson
"You're a jim-dandy with the twine, all right," said the seine-master admiringly.
From The Boy With the U. S. Fisheries by Francis Rolt-Wheeler
"Put these jim-dandies on top with the yaller side up," he commanded.
From Dixie Hart by Will N. (William Nathaniel) Harben
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.
