potty

[pot-ee]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR potty ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, pot·ti·er, pot·ti·est.

Chiefly British Informal. slightly insane; eccentric.

British. paltry; trifling; petty.

Nearby words

Origin of potty

First recorded in 1855–60; pot¹ + -y¹

potty

[pot-ee]

noun, plural pot·ties.

a seat of reduced size fitting over a toilet seat, for use by a small child.

a small metal pot fitting under a potty-chair.

Baby Talk. a toilet.

Origin of potty

First recorded in 1840–50; pot¹ + -y²

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for potty

I mean, just the potty training of octuplets is enough to cause a mind to snap.
Octomom Nadya Suleman Wants to Shed Her Creepy Persona|Maria Elena Fernandez|July 9, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Of course, sexual abuse isn't the same as videotaping a child on the potty.
Jon & Kate Plus 8 Little Victims?|Wendy Murphy|June 15, 2009|DAILY BEAST
If Athene hadn't had that potty little legacy left her, she couldn't have done this.
A Family Man (From the Fifth Series Plays)|John Galsworthy
We are fighting for a principle; there is no potty that shall say I am not a peliever in principle.
Strife (First Series Plays)|John Galsworthy

Potty, Pipes, and Piffle were very real to me, and lived like actual people in that dim garret.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. XXII (of 25)|Robert Louis Stevenson
Do you happen to have come across a goggle-eyed, potty little Alderman Brooker?
The Dop Doctor|Clotilde Inez Mary Graves
A man wot knows wet 'e's doin' is worth ten wot don't, even if 'e's a potty old parson.'
The Club of Queer Trades|G. K. Chesterton

British Dictionary definitions for potty

potty

adjective -tier or -tiest British informal

foolish or slightly crazy

trivial or insignificant

(foll by about or on) very keen (about)

Derived Formspottiness, noun

Word Origin for potty

C19: perhaps from pot 1

noun plural -ties

a child's word for chamber pot

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 potty

potty

adj.

"crazy, silly," 1916, slang, of unknown origin, perhaps connected to potter (v.). Earlier slang senses were "easy to manage" (1899) and "feeble, petty" (1860).

potty

1942, child's word for "chamber pot," from pot (n.1). Potty-training is attested from 1958. Potty-mouth "one who uses obscene language" is student slang from 1968.

potty

adjective, pot·ti·er, pot·ti·est.

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Nearby words

Origin of potty

potty

noun, plural pot·ties.

Origin of potty

Examples from the Web for potty

potty

adjective -tier or -tiest British informal

Word Origin for potty

noun plural -ties

potty

potty