What is a Webby? A Webby is an award presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences for excellence in a variety of forms of digital media. The award is formally called a Webby Award, and the award ceremony is called the Webby Awards or the Webbys for short. Webbys are awarded in many different categories, including those involving websites, apps, podcasts, videos, and newsletters. The Webby Awards ceremony is perhaps best known for having winners deliver acceptance speeches consisting of only five words. The physical Webby Award is in the form of a silver spiral.
First recorded in 1655–65; web + -y 1
First recorded in 1995–2000; (World Wide) Web ( def. ) + -y 2 ( def. )
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
If the silk hardens too soon, it could clog the spider’s glands with a nightmarishly webby form of constipation.
From New York Times ● Nov. 4, 2020
Argos is also one of the UK's most webby retailers, getting 42% of sales online.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 31, 2012
Actually, Obama's campaign was never really so webby to begin with.
From Slate ● Jan. 21, 2010
He would leer and squeak at the spider when the latter was at work on his webby scaffold under the kitchen range.
From Time Magazine Archive
But here she was, under her webby old black umbrella to shade her from the sun.
From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck
He was a finalist for an Online Journalism Award for his coverage of Simone Biles, and his co-produced series on topical political issues was a Webby Award honoree.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
Anna won a Gracie for best podcast host in 2016 and the show won the 2018 Webby and 2021 Ambie for best interview show.
From Slate ● Oct. 30, 2025
The D1.1 version of the virus “worries me a bit,” said Richard Webby, director of the World Health Organization’s Collaborating Center for Studies on the Ecology of Influenza in Animals and Birds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 18, 2024
“Maybe what we see isn’t exactly the tip of the iceberg, but it’s certainly not the whole story,” Webby said.
From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2024
When Webby told about it next day, he said, "I felt like I was a chicken just hatched fum out an aig," but Webby said that because words were hard things and difficult to handle.
From Battling the Clouds or, For a Comrade's Honor by Cobb, Frank
Early on there were Koufaxes, later Webbies, and all sorts of other blogging awards.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 10, 2012
In both these cases, unlike in the tax issue, the Webbies are basically in the right.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Webbys even named her their artist of the year.
From Salon ● Dec. 29, 2023
The Webbys also honored emoji creator Shigetaka Kurita with a lifetime achievement award, AI writing tool ChatGPT with the breakout of the year award and SZA for artist of the year.
From Reuters ● Apr. 25, 2023
Like The Webbys, which sought to celebrate the shift to a digital-driven culture 25 years ago, The Anthem Awards aim to capture the current shift to more philanthropic and socially conscious concerns, Lauretti said.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 25, 2022
Grammy-winner Ocean won Person of the Year for using the "power of the Web as a medium for cultural change," the Webbys said.
From Reuters ● Apr. 30, 2013
The Webbys also honored the rock band OK Go, famous for their viral music videos, as video artist of the year.
From Washington Post ● May 4, 2010
But for very basic banking, smaller, webbier, and more local alternatives tend to be better.
From Slate ● Oct. 10, 2011
Our current home page design, unveiled in September 2013, is our webbiest yet.
From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2016
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.
