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• paddy
  paddy

  noun

  a rice field.
• Paddy
  Paddy

  noun

  an Irishman or a person of Irish descent.

paddy

¹ American  

[pad-ee] / ˈpæd i /

noun

paddies plural

1. a rice field.

2. rice, especially in the husk, either uncut or gathered.

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Paddy ² American  

[pad-ee] / ˈpæd i /

noun

Paddies plural

1. Slang: Often Offensive. an Irishman or a person of Irish descent.

2. a male given name.

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paddy ¹ British  

/ ˈpædɪ /

noun

1. Also called: paddy field.  a field planted with rice

2. rice as a growing crop or when harvested but not yet milled

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Paddy ² British  

/ ˈpædɪ /

noun

1. (sometimes not capital) an informal, often derogatory, name for an Irishman

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paddy ³ British  

/ ˈpædɪ /

noun

1. informal a fit of temper

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Sensitive Note

This term is used as a neutral nickname or term of address for an Irishman, though it may be perceived as insulting.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Paddies
  plural
• paddies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of paddy¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Malay padi “unhusked rice”; currency of this word in the English of India perhaps due to early association with Kannada batta, bhatta “unhusked rice” (from Indo-Aryan; compare Hindi, Marathi bhāt “cooked rice,” Sanskrit bhakhta “food, meal”)

Origin of Paddy²

Familiar variant of Irish Padraig Patrick; see -y ²

Explanation

A paddy is a field used for growing rice. Paddies are different from most other crop fields because they are partially flooded with water. If you plan on farming a rice paddy, you'll probably want to invest in a good pair of waterproof boots. There are a few kinds of rice that can grow in dry soil, but most need the soggy soil that a paddy provides. Most rice paddies are located in various parts of Asia, although they can also be found in Spain, Haiti, and the state of California. Another meaning of this word is "unmilled rice." The Malay root of paddy is padi, "rice in the straw."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

paddy Paddy Paddies paddies

"He wakes up almost every two hours and have a screaming paddy which takes almost a hour to get him back to sleep xx."

From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026

"We need it for the paddy season, so I had to ensure I had enough."

From Barron's ● Jun. 16, 2026

"As the planet becomes warmer and wetter, methane emissions from wetlands, inland waters, and paddy rice systems will increasingly shape near-term climate change," said Tian.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 10, 2026

A number of them are bordered by mountains, cities or paddy fields, making it harder to break out of the beach perimeter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 7, 2025

He pointed to a small trench along the side of the paddy.

From "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers

Gaethje earned the interim lightweight title in January by defeating Paddy Pimblett by unanimous decision.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026

The owner of FanDuel, PokerStars, and Paddy Power said July 31 would be its last day of trading on the LSE.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

Paddy Little, a litter picking officer for a waters sports club, said he had lost count of the number of carcasses he has seen in the Blackwater River that flows between counties Tyrone and Armagh.

From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026

Liverpudlian Paddy Pimblett will also fight at UFC 329 at the T-Mobile Arena, taking on Frenchman Benoit Saint-Denis in his first bout since losing to Justin Gaethje in January.

From BBC ● May 17, 2026

Father Harte said the blessing, and afterward, Paddy Mulligan’s bow flew over the fiddle strings as Long Liam’s fingers pounded the skin of his drum.

From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff

He said when the artist first told him about the idea "he talked about the idea of different Paddies who have all done interesting things".

From BBC ● Mar. 16, 2023

Paddies require enough water to keep rice plants partially submerged to grow.

From Reuters ● Jun. 16, 2015

Paddies were blackened with salt water, the rice crop destroyed.

From Time Magazine Archive

The shallow waters of the bay were being filled up by the rubbish from the town and by the débris from the operations of the Steam Paddies.

From The Forty-Niners A Chronicle of the California Trail and El Dorado by White, Stewart Edward

“The toil for Ireland once begun, We never will give o’er, Nor own a land on earth but one— We’re Paddies evermore.”

From The Revival of Irish Literature Addresses by Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, K.C.M.G, Dr. George Sigerson, and Dr. Douglas Hyde by Duffy, Charles Gavan

The landscape includes large areas of rice paddies along with lotus fields, cultivated cropland, and pastureland.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 22, 2026

So with farmers facing arid brown fields that should be flooded, lush paddies, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim this week announced cloud-seeding operations to trigger rain.

From Barron's ● May 8, 2026

In the rice paddies of Buri Ram, Thailand, a sarus crane gently cleans its one-week-old chick before lingering in a quiet beak-to-beak moment.

From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2026

Niigata prefecture is a coastal idyll of steep mountains and lush rice paddies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025

After leaving the marketplace Naima took a shortcut, splashing through rice paddies.

From "Rickshaw Girl" by Mitali Perkins