lefty

¹ American  

[lef-tee] / ˈlɛf ti /

Or leftie

noun

Informal.

plural

lefties

1. a left-handed person.

2. a leftist.

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lefty ² American  

[lef-tee] / ˈlɛf ti /

adjective

1. left-handed.

2. leftist; left-wing.

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adverb

1. with the left hand; in a left-handed manner.

   He bats lefty.

lefty British  

/ ˈlɛftɪ /

noun

1. a left-winger

2. a left-handed person

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Etymology

Origin of lefty¹

First recorded in 1925–30; left ¹ + -y ²

Origin of lefty²

First recorded in 1885–90; left ¹ + -y ¹

Example Sentences

He prepared to play Shakespeare by writing poetry of his own, and to embody McCartney, the right-handed actor learned to play guitar lefty.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 20, 2026

"The only problem is that I'm a lefty and they're all right-handed guitars."

From BBC • Nov. 14, 2025

“People perceive me as this sort of lefty figure; I think I’m more conservative than people think. I just happen to be talking about a government in extremis,” he said.

From Salon • Nov. 4, 2025

In the bottom of the first, he finally shut everybody up when he connected on a full-count slurve from the Brewers’ lefty starter Jose Quintana and drove it into oblivion.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 17, 2025

It’s not that I don’t see the ball well leaving a righty pitcher’s hand, but when it comes to lefty pitchers, I own them.

From "A High Five for Glenn Burke" by Phil Bildner