mousy

American  

[mou-see, -zee] / ˈmaʊ si, -zi /

Or mousey

adjective

mousier, mousiest

1. resembling or suggesting a mouse, as in color or odor.

2. drab and colorless.

3. meek; timid.

   A drill sergeant can't be mousy!

   Synonyms:

   timorous, bashful, shy, fearful

4. quiet; noiseless.

   a mousy tread.

5. infested with mice.

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mousy British  

/ ˈmaʊsɪ /

adjective

1. resembling a mouse, esp in having a light brown or greyish hair colour

2. shy or ineffectual

   a mousy little woman

3. infested with mice

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Other Word Forms

• mousily adverb
• mousiness noun

Etymology

Origin of mousy

First recorded in 1805–15; mouse + -y ¹

Explanation

If your house is painted the same dull brown color as a mouse's fur, you can call it mousy. If you're tired of your mousy hair, you can always dye it purple. If you think of mice as shy and boring, you'll understand the sense of the adjective mousy. Whether it's describing a color, like your mousy brown sweater, or a personality, like a timid, mousy classmate, mousy is rarely a compliment. The "quiet and unassertive" meaning is the oldest, dating from about 1812, while the reference to color came along forty years later.

Example Sentences

Bud signs up for church wellness counseling and immediately falls in love with his mousy group leader.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 7, 2026

She becomes an object of fascination for Thomasin McKenzie’s mousy Eileen when she glides into the dreary juvenile detention center where they both work one winter, in Massachusetts 1964.

From Seattle Times • May 5, 2024

These microbes are known to contaminate white wine, causing spoilage and unpleasant odors, including nail polish remover, geranium and "mousy" odors.

From Science Daily • Apr. 17, 2024

I’d had this image of myself as a mousy kid, but as I worked on the book, I was shocked at the things I did.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 13, 2023

And though I didn’t want to say it—a little bit mousy.

From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck