silvery
adj/ˈsɪlvəɹi/ · /ˈsɪlvɹi/
Etymology From Middle English silvery, sylvyry; equivalent to silver + -y.
1
Resembling silver in color, shiny white.
- OF all th' enamell'd race, whose silvery wing / Waves to the tepid zephyrs of the spring.1728, [Alexander Pope], “(please specify the page)”, in The Dunciad. An Heroic Poem. […], Dublin; London: […] A. Dodd, →OCLC:
- Nothing was to be seen save flat meadows, cows feeding unconcernedly for the most part, and silvery pollard willows motionless in the warm sunlight.1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 98:
3 more examples
- A silvery cloud drifted over the mountains that surrounded him, its edges glowing with ruddy light cast from the harvest moon cradled between two peaks.2003, Christopher Paolini, “Discovery”, in Eragon, page 6:
- Manganism has been known about since the 19th century, when miners exposed to ores containing manganese, a silvery metal, began to totter, slur their speech and behave like someone inebriated.2014 April 21, “Subtle effects”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8884:
- But inside the aquarium, riotously colored saltwater fish, schools of silvery piranhas, and even one seemingly communicative manta ray allow visitors to dream of worlds beyond a war that has made the land where the oceanic sanctuary sits a battle zone.2025 December 22, Howard LaFranchi, “Near Ukraine’s front line, aquarium offers refuge for kids and soldiers alike”, in The Christian Science Monitor:
2
Sprinkled or covered with silver.
3
Having the clear, musical tone of silver; soft and clear in sound.
- a silvery laugh
- The hand grasped the curtain, and drew it aside, and as it did so I heard a voice, I think the softest and yet most silvery voice I ever heard.1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
- Synonyms
- silvern
- Derived terms
- silverily, silveriness, silvery acacia, silvery-cheeked antshrike, silvery flying fox, silvery gade, silvery gibbon, silvery gull, silvery-haired, silvery hair-grass, silvery hair-tail, silvery honeysuckle, silvery marmoset, silvery oak, silvery pomfret, silvery pout, silvery salmon, silvery sedge, silvery shrew mole, silvery-tongued, silvery-white