mealy

[ mee-lee ]

See synonyms for mealy on Thesaurus.com

adjective,meal·i·er, meal·i·est.

having the qualities of meal; powdery; soft, dry, and crumbly: mealy potatoes; a mealy stone.
of or containing meal; farinaceous: baked fish with a mealy crust.

covered with or as if with meal or powder: flowers mealy with their pollen.
flecked as if with meal; spotty: horses with mealy hides.
pale; sallow: a mealy complexion.
mealy-mouthed.

Origin of mealy

First recorded in 1525–35; meal² + -y¹

Other words from mealy

meal·i·ness, noun

Words Nearby mealy

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use mealy in a sentence

This is a story about camouflage, but forget mud-blob brown, mealy beige and somber green.
Mirror beetles’ shiny bodies may not act as camouflage after all | Susan Milius | March 9, 2022 | Science News
There is no neutral perspective here as Ovechkin’s mealy-mouthed explanation suggested.
Alex Ovechkin’s voice is powerful. His comments on Ukraine were a missed opportunity. | Kevin Blackistone | February 27, 2022 | Washington Post
There are even more “most underrated” if you qualified it with “probably,” the quintessential mealy-mouthed touch.
Gene Weingarten: Take me out to the Old. Word. Game. | Gene Weingarten | May 6, 2021 | Washington Post
Old-shell lobsters can survive international shipping, but the meat is usually mealy and course.
My Big, Buttery Lobster Roll Rumble: We Came, We Clawed, We Conquered | Scott Bixby | June 7, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
They withdrew their slap on the wrist, while citing various mealy mouthed reasons.
A&E Ducks for Cover by Forgiving Phil Robertson | Michael Musto | December 30, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST

As for all the timid, mealy-mouthed incrementalists, Porter has only contempt for that kind of thinking.
Janet Folger Porter, Abortion Warrior, on Her Heartbeat Crusade | Michelle Cottle | July 7, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
Twenty-five years later, he wrote a mealy-mouthed not-quite apology for his rhetoric.
Al Sharpton’s Long Bill of Goods, From Tawana Brawley to Primetime | Stuart Stevens | June 3, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
Appointing a task force on guns seems a little mealy-mouthed to me.
Obama's Guns Task Force | Michael Tomasky | December 19, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
"It's no use being mealy-mouthed over this thing, Pete," he grated in that saw-mill voice of his.
The Wreckers | Francis Lynde
When boiled in water the root separates into fibres, and is rather waxy, but when laid in hot ashes it becomes mealy.
Travels in Peru, on the Coast, in the Sierra, Across the Cordilleras and the Andes, into the Primeval Forests | J. J. von Tschudi
The skin is yellow, the fruit of a palish red, and rather mealy.
Travels in Peru, on the Coast, in the Sierra, Across the Cordilleras and the Andes, into the Primeval Forests | J. J. von Tschudi
Spent the evening in trying cooking experiments with mealy flour and some Neave's Food, which one of us had.
In the Ranks of the C.I.V. | Erskine Childers
It was very good, and was followed by meat fried in mealy crumbs, and later on, some mealy porridge and Mellin mixed.
In the Ranks of the C.I.V. | Erskine Childers

British Dictionary definitions for mealy

mealy

/ (ˈmiːlɪ) /

adjectivemealier or mealiest

resembling meal; powdery
containing or consisting of meal or grain

sprinkled or covered with meal or similar granules
(esp of horses) spotted; mottled
pale in complexion
short for mealy-mouthed

Derived forms of mealy

mealiness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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