homey
1 Americanadjective
noun
adjective
noun
Usage
What does homey mean? Homey is used to describe a place as cozy, comfortable, and inviting. It’s often used to describe a home that feels this way. You might discuss ways of making your place (or a particular room in it) more homey, typically by decorating it in a way that makes it cozier or more comfortable. Homey can also be used to describe a place that’s not a home but that’s comfortable and inviting like your own home, such as a hotel room, cozy restaurant, or nicely decorated office. Example: The new fireplace makes the living room feel so homey. Unrelatedly, homey is an alternative spelling of the noun homie, which is a slang term for a close friend. It can be used to refer to a friend, as in This is my homey Russel, or as a term of address for one, as in Hey, homey!Example: I’m having a night out with just me and my homeys.
Synonym Usage
See homely.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of homey1
First recorded in 1850–55; home + -y 1
Origin of homey2
First recorded in 1990–95
Vocabulary lists containing homey
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In the homey second movement, he carefully lays down his cello, picks up a music box and sits at the foot of the podium.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026
"Calgary, where I'm from, feels a little less like homey than LA," McRae said.
From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2026
Inside the homey dining room and open kitchen, Cho blends the South Korean flavors of his birthplace with the European techniques he mastered as a chef in New York City.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 22, 2026
I believe that companies should focus on how to make the workplace more comfortable, even homey.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 5, 2026
There was something comforting and homey in the scent of damp wood and livestock.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
I got fifteen or sixteen family members in Denver who owe Qwest money, doot-and I ain't even mentioned none of the homeys yet.
From Time Magazine Archive
I called the homeys, got a case of beer, and we all sat on the porch, turned up the volume, and let The Cherry Valance rock.
From Time Magazine Archive
At this time only a happy few knew what this guy was capable of-mainly his homeys from Bourg-Saint-Maurice.
From Time Magazine Archive
Was it weird to go back and see your old homeys in Brazil after skating in Cali for a while?
From Time Magazine Archive
When I got on the court my homeys started whooping.
From "Slam!" by Walter Dean Myers
We did every major event here, prom, homecoming, all the homies would come here and take photos across the different points of the house.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 13, 2026
“Was I supposed to call my homies like Sara Bareilles and say, ‘Hey, do you want to come play here?’”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2025
“There are so many levels to us at this point: We are friends, we are lovers, we are homies, and most importantly, we are fathers.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 27, 2024
UAW counsel Benjamin Dictor on Sunday morning posted on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter: "All my homies hate companies that won't agree to fair contracts for their workers."
From Reuters ● Oct. 29, 2023
My mom's all proud of me for being smart, but most of my homies don't know I'm on the honor roll.
From "How It Went Down" by Kekla Magoon
Battery-operated wall sconces, she says, are another inexpensive addition that can make an apartment feel homier.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 30, 2026
It was so much homier, so much more filling, so much more home-style than the other, oftentimes heinous lunch offerings.
From Salon ● Jan. 26, 2024
The softer light makes even the sparest of holiday décor feel homier.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 6, 2023
The homier entrees — fried chicken, pork schnitzel — call to me most, and if you like oysters, spring for the fried, raw and roasted Ruby Salts from the lower Eastern Shore of Virginia.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 20, 2023
This Motel 6 is in the latter category, which makes it homier, you might say, or maybe only more haunted.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
And homiest of all is the shop’s impressive, one might even say fanatical, collection of those aforementioned typewriters.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 22, 2023
The homiest of the lot are “Northwest,” an ode to the PNW, and a loving number about Clark’s grandmother titled “She Smoked in the House.”
From Seattle Times ● May 16, 2023
Dasani’s housefather tries to soften the landing by making his homiest dish — lasagna.
From New York Times ● Sep. 28, 2021
In a trolley car that is rumored to have driven the capital’s streets between 1894 and 1912, Luxury Diner serves the city’s heartiest and homiest breakfast and lunch.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 10, 2019
The Admiral’s study was one of those rooms which seem full to the very ceiling of wonderful memories, and was also one of the homiest rooms at Woodbine.
From A Dixie School Girl by Jackson, Gabrielle E. (Gabrielle Emilie)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
