windy meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

windy

adj

/ˈwɪn.di/

Etymology From Middle English windy, from Old English windiġ (“windy”), from Proto-Germanic *windigaz (“windy”), equivalent to wind + -y. Cognate with Saterland Frisian wiendich (“windy”), West Frisian winich (“windy”), Dutch winderig (“windy”), German Low German windig (“windy”), German windig (“windy”), Swedish vindig (“windy”), Icelandic vindugur (“windy”). The “frightened” sense probably derives from the phrase have the wind up.

1

Accompanied by wind.

It was a long and windy night.
“Everybody is interested in extremes – the hottest, the wettest, the windiest – so creating a database of professionally verified records is useful in that fact alone,” says Randall Cerveny from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).2017 June 15, Hiufu Wong, “11 extreme weather records”, in CNN:

2 more examples

Humid, windy days with low pressure make pain worse in those with long-term health conditions, according to new research.2019 October 24, Jack Guy, “Humid, windy days worse for pain, says new study”, in CNN:
[…] Higher windier locations can some times provide a relief from these insects during the growing season.”2021 August 12, Katie Hunt, “Mammoths were the original ‘ice road truckers,’ traveling vast distances across the Arctic”, in CNN:

2

Unsheltered and open to the wind.

They shagged in a windy bus shelter.

3

Empty and lacking substance.

They made windy promises they would not keep.

4

Long-winded; orally verbose.

I am not come hither to contend with the King of Witchland in windy railing, but to match my strength against his, sinew against sinew.1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 21:

5

Informal Flatulent.

The Tex-Mex meal had made them somewhat windy.

6

Slang Nervous, frightened.

The thing is he’s not windy, he’s a perfectly good soldier, no more than reasonably afraid of rifle and machine-gun bullets, shells, grenades.1995, Pat Barker, The Ghost Road, Penguin, published 2014, The Regeneration Trilogy, page 848:

windy

noun

Etymology From Middle English windy, from Old English windiġ (“windy”), from Proto-Germanic *windigaz (“windy”), equivalent to wind + -y. Cognate with Saterland Frisian wiendich (“windy”), West Frisian winich (“windy”), Dutch winderig (“windy”), German Low German windig (“windy”), German windig (“windy”), Swedish vindig (“windy”), Icelandic vindugur (“windy”). The “frightened” sense probably derives from the phrase have the wind up.

1

Colloquial A fart.

windy

adj

/ˈwaɪndi/

Etymology From wind (“to curve, bend”) + -y.

1

Of a path etc Having many bends; winding, twisting or tortuous.

Derived terms: windiness, windy pasty