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mealy

[mee-lee]
See more synonyms for mealy on Thesaurus.com
adjective, meal·i·er, meal·i·est.
  1. having the qualities of meal; powdery; soft, dry, and crumbly: mealy potatoes; a mealy stone.
  2. of or containing meal; farinaceous: baked fish with a mealy crust.
  3. covered with or as if with meal or powder: flowers mealy with their pollen.
  4. flecked as if with meal; spotty: horses with mealy hides.
  5. pale; sallow: a mealy complexion.
  6. mealy-mouthed.
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Origin of mealy

First recorded in 1525–35; meal2 + -y1
Related formsmeal·i·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for mealy

crumbly, farinaceous, friable, gritty, grainy

Examples from the Web for mealy

Contemporary Examples of mealy

Historical Examples of mealy

  • If it is but potatoes and salt, let the salt be ground fine, and the potatoes white and mealy.

    Culture and Cooking

    Catherine Owen

  • The name did not fit him; was too mealy; not debonair enough.

    Gigolo

    Edna Ferber

  • The "Mealy Sweet" was not of much account; it was too dry, but the Harveys were excellent.

    When Life Was Young

    C. A. Stephens

  • A baked potato, eaten as soon as done, is sweet, dry and mealy.

    Health on the Farm

    H. F. Harris

  • They will not be mealy if they lie soaking in the water without boiling.

British Dictionary definitions for mealy

mealy

adjective mealier or mealiest
  1. resembling meal; powdery
  2. containing or consisting of meal or grain
  3. sprinkled or covered with meal or similar granules
  4. (esp of horses) spotted; mottled
  5. pale in complexion
  6. short for mealy-mouthed
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Derived Formsmealiness, 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

Word Origin and History for mealy

adj.

"resembling or consisting of meal," 1530s, from meal (n.2) + -y (2). Related: Mealiness.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper