adjective
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of or having the appearance of silver
the silvery moon
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containing or covered with silver
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having a clear ringing sound
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of silvery
Explanation
Anything that has a shiny gray color is silvery, like the silvery moonlit surface of a pond at night. The adjective silvery is perfect for describing things that shimmer and glow like silver, whether it's the silverly hue of your grandmother's long hair, silvery moth wings, or the silvery sardines in the tin you just opened. You can also use it to describe ringing, melodious sounds: "I'd know the silvery sound of her laughter anywhere!"
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.
Rarely has one person so dominated the fashion stakes, with a specially made silvery Jacquemus bustier dress on opening night, followed by an enormous hot pink Barbie ballgown by edgy French-Canadian fashion label Matieres Fecales.
From Barron's • May 22, 2026
They are wrapped on all sides in silvery wire mesh of decidedly industrial character.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026
Photos shared by the department show a silvery gray fox bounding majestically across a white snowy plain beneath towering, sunlit alpine peaks.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 10, 2026
A few years ago, Mr Kim began to notice that the popular silvery hairtail fish he relied on were disappearing from local waters, and his earnings plunged by half.
From BBC • Oct. 23, 2025
Stars, to him, were fixed mariners, old friends, fine compasses, light pure, and druids in the silvery separateness of the night flight.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
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.
