mossy

American  

[maw-see, mos-ee] / ˈmɔ si, ˈmɒs i /

adjective

mossier, mossiest

1. overgrown with or abounding in moss.

   a mossy stone.

2. covered with a mosslike growth.

3. appearing as if covered with moss.

4. resembling moss.

   a mossy softness.

5. old or outdated; antiquated.

   mossy ideas.

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Other Word Forms

• mossiness
  noun
• unmossy
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of mossy

First recorded in 1540–50; moss + -y ¹

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Explanation

Anything covered with or resembling moss is mossy. A mossy rock can be pretty. Mossy teeth are never pretty. Moss tends to grow in a green carpet, especially in wooded or shady areas, so when you're walking through a forest you'll probably come upon mossy areas. Informally, you can also use this adjective to mean "old fashioned" or "dated." Your grandparents' conservative ideas about dating, for example, might be a little mossy. The word stems from an Old English root, meos, that's a close relation to mos, or "bog."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mossy mossier mossiest

The couple married in a mossy woodland by the river, and agreed they had the most "magical" wedding.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

"The numbers of mossy cells decline with aging and Alzheimer's disease," said Alexendra Moser, PhD, a project scientist in the Svendsen Lab and lead author of the study.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 23, 2025

Fed from glaciers on Mount Shasta, the water pours out of lava tubes and down mossy cliffs, forming a verdant and ethereal cascade into a calm, shaded swimming hole.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2025

Highly theatrical, it saw the 35-year-old perform inside a mossy grotto, singing on top of a giant mechanical beetle and ascending a tree trunk in fairy wings.

From BBC ● Nov. 15, 2024

And at long last, mossy from their wait at the starting line, they went.

From "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli

The new cottages are finely designed, but they are too black-and-white and painty to group easily with the older, mossier buildings and the White Hart Inn, with its nobly ugly sign.

From Highways and Byways in Surrey by Hugh Thomson

After that the most Jabez asked of Eddie was to write "Please remit" or "Past due" on the mossier bills.

From In a Little Town by Rupert Hughes

Ah," he said, "I have done fifty, without food, over the roughest and mossiest mountains.

From The Moon Endureth: Tales and Fancies by John Buchan

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