| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
| |
| airy |
| |
| SYLLABICATION: | air·y |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  âr  |
| ADJECTIVE: | Inflected forms: air·i·er, air·i·est
1. Of, relating to, or having the constitution of air. 2. High in the air; lofty. 3. Open to the air: airy chambers. 4. Performed in the air; aerial. 5. Immaterial; illusory: an airy apparition. 6. Speculative, impractical, or vacuous: airy theories about socioeconomic improvement. 7. Light or delicate: an airy dress. 8. Haughty or affected: dismissed us with an airy wave of the hand. 9. Light-hearted; merry: an airy mood. | | OTHER FORMS: | airi·ly —ADVERB
airi·ness —NOUN
| | SYNONYMS: | airy, diaphanous, ethereal, filmy, gauzy, gossamer, sheer2, transparent, vaporous These adjectives mean so light and insubstantial as to resemble air or a thin film: airy curtains blowing at the window; a diaphanous veil; ethereal mist; the filmy wings of a moth; gauzy clouds in the sky; a gown of gossamer fabric; sheer silk stockings; transparent chiffon; vaporous shadows at dusk.
| | |
| |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
|
|
