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Synonyms

weedy

American  
[wee-dee] / ˈwi di /

adjective

weedier, weediest
  1. full of or abounding in weeds.

  2. consisting of or pertaining to weeds.

  3. (of a plant, flower, etc.) growing poorly or in a straggling manner.

  4. (of a person or animal) scrawny or ungainly.


weedy British  
/ ˈwiːdɪ /

adjective

  1. full of or containing weeds

    weedy land

  2. (of a plant) resembling a weed in rapid or straggling growth

  3. informal thin or weakly in appearance

"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

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of weedy

late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; see origin at weed 1, -y 1

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:

Alongside their release, the authority have planted suitable plants for the birds to feed on - including "weedy" wildflowers like fumitory and vetch.

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

On a recent Sunday morning, in the weedy parking lot of a strip mall in Wayne, N.J.,

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2025

To make weeding easier, scientists suggest bioengineering crops to be colorful or to have differently shaped leaves so that they can be more easily distinguished from their wild and weedy counterparts.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 17, 2024

Brown spots, weedy spots, soggy areas and excessive water on the sidewalk or driveway are all signs of an irrigation system that may need attention.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 13, 2024

Felix had heard Pookie barking next door, and when the weedy monster landed in his yard, he started barking as well.

From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown

Monarch numbers will probably stay lower than they were in a weedier world, but the butterflies lay enough eggs that they can bounce back a bit in just one season, Taylor said.

From Slate ● Jan. 29, 2014

The traveller had apparently taken his direction with care before he started, however, for he made his way straight to another rock, weedier and more overhanging than the first.

From Kings in Exile by Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts

The Humming-bird, growing weedier and weaker, revived in her presence; he relaxed a little of his moroseness and austerity.

From The Combined Maze by May Sinclair

They look weedier than what they call Front Street down to Cowper Centre.

From The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett

Beneath it all I know there is a strata of the Magnificent, but the surface-ground is weedier than ever.

From Over the Fireside with Silent Friends by Richard King

Even worse, it seems that the weediest species seem to thrive disproportionately in high CO2 environments.

From Time Magazine Archive

For of all the stagnant ponds I ever beheld, it is the greenest and weediest.

From The Letters of Charles Dickens Vol. 1, 1833-1856 by Georgina Hogarth

The weediest Tommy in your Company can "carry on."

From The Tree of Heaven by May Sinclair

Had I not a hundred times been told, when sent to the wood-pile or the weediest part of the garden in my youthful days, that "Satan finds some mischief still For idle hands to do?"

From Helen's Babies by John Habberton

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