peaky

adj — 2 senses

peaky

adj

/ˈpiːki/

Etymology From peak + -y.

1

Sickly; peaked.

  • Her appetite did not improve, however, and she looked very thin and peaky.1956 [1880], Johanna Spyri, translated by Eileen Hall, Heidi, page 111:
2

Characterised by peaks.

  • Or over hills with peaky tops engrail'd, / And many a tract of palm and rice, / The throne of Indian Cama slowly sail'd / A summer fann'd with spice.1842, Alfred Tennyson, “The Palace of Art”, in Poems. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 143:
  • A wide spread of possible outcomes will give a relatively flat distribution and so indicate a risky project. A narrow spread of results will give a very peaky graph and indicate a low risk project.1994, John S. Hares, Duncan Royle, Measuring the value of information technology, page 176:
Derived terms
peakily, peakiness, peaky blinder, peakyish

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.