Borrowed from Scots dandy (“a fop; one who is well-dressed”). Of uncertain origin.
Possibly from Dandy, a diminutive of Andrew, yet the Scots word is used also in reference to women. Alternatively, possibly a back-formation of Scots dandilly, dandillie (“one who is spoiled or pampered; a "pet"”). Compare English dandle and dander.
Meanings
Like a dandy, foppish.
Very good; better than expected but not as good as could be.
That's all fine and dandy, but how much does it cost?
Excellent; first-rate.
Grip Sures are dandy shoes for anything that comes along. Hiking, climbing, canoeing, around camp or in the gym — you can't have anything better. 1924, Boys' Life, page 27:
Its gonna be just dandy / The day I take my Candy / And make him mine all mine 1945, Mack David, Alex C Kramer, Joan Whitney, “Candy”, performed by Nat King Cole:
What a dandy little laptop you have.
A perfectly dandy cartoon feature, “The Jungle Book,” scooted into local theaters yesterday just ahead of the big day, and it's ideal for the children. 1967 December 23, “Disney ‘Jungle Book’ Arrives Just in Time”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
es dandy (like a dandy) · pt catita (very good; better than expected but not as good as could be) · fi mainio (very good; better than expected but not as good as could be) · da glimrende (very good; better than expected but not as good as could be) · bg контешки (like a dandy) · de schön (very good; better than expected but not as good as could be) · no snerten (first-rate) · mk ко́нтешки (like a dandy) · fi erinomainen (very good; better than expected but not as good as could be) · it passabile (very good; better than expected but not as good as could be) · de gut (very good; better than expected but not as good as could be) · fi erinomainen (first-rate) · no kjekt (very good; better than expected but not as good as could be) · fi keikarimainen (like a dandy) · no dandy (like a dandy) · fi mainio (first-rate) · no kjekk (first-rate) · no snasen (first-rate) · es muy bien (very good; better than expected but not as good as could be) · da storartet (very good; better than expected but not as good as could be) · da lapset (like a dandy) · kmr tewtew (like a dandy) · de prima (very good; better than expected but not as good as could be) · es primera clase (first-rate) · no fett nok (very good; better than expected but not as good as could be) · pl dandysowaty (like a dandy) · fr très bien (very good; better than expected but not as good as could be)
Borrowed from Scots dandy (“a fop; one who is well-dressed”). Of uncertain origin.
Possibly from Dandy, a diminutive of Andrew, yet the Scots word is used also in reference to women. Alternatively, possibly a back-formation of Scots dandilly, dandillie (“one who is spoiled or pampered; a "pet"”). Compare English dandle and dander.
Meanings
A man very concerned about his physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance in a cult of self.
No town-bred dandy will compare with a country-bred one—I mean a downright bumpkin dandy–a fellow that, in the dog-days, will mow his two acres in buckskin gloves for fear of tanning his hands. 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter VI, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 68:
“Gerald Croft is an attractive chap about thirty, rather too manly to be a dandy but very much the easy well-bred young man-about-town.” 1945, J. B. Priestley, chapter I, in An Inspector Calls:
The gallant young Indian dandy at home on furlough — immense dandies these — chained and moustached — driving in tearing cabs, the pillars of the theatres, living at West End Hotels, — […] 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 60, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:
Something excellent in its class.
(UK) A yawl, or a small after-sail on a yawl.
A dandy roller.
(Ireland, UK, archaic, slang) A small glass of whisky.
Somebody quite as notorious as Brummell, but whose follies have been far more mischievous; whose eloquence is great, but certainly not always refined; and to whose health many a dandy of whisky has been tossed off. 1844, William Jesse, The life of George Brummell, page 57:
(historical) A horse-drawn railway carriage used on some branch lines.
Other notable instances of horse-drawn vehicles for passenger services were the dandies used on the two-mile branch to Inchture of the Perth-Dundee line of the Caledonian Railway […], and the 2½-mile branch of the North British Railway from Drumburgh to Port Carlisle. […] One of the Port Carlisle dandies was preserved at Waverley Station, Edinburgh, for several years, but is now in the Railway Museum at York. 1958 February 14, “Notes and News: The Fintona Tram”, in Railway Magazine, pages 139-140:
mk ги́здавец (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · es gomoso (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · ca dandi (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · ga scóitséir (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · es dandy (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · de Dandy (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · nb dandy (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · ru пижо́н (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · hi छैला (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · it fichetto (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · es dandi (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · bg де́нди (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · hi बाँका (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · da modeherre (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · it bellimbusto (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · cs hejsek (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · de Pinkel (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · hi छैल (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · pl laluś (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · es lechuguino (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · pt janota (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · cs fintil (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · mk де́нди (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · it damerino (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · pl goguś (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · ca petimetre (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · rsk даса (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · pl modniś (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · pt peralta (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · ru франт (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · ru щёголь (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · da spradebasse (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · sh kicoš (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · cmn 纨绔子弟 (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · fi keikari (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · pt peravilho (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · es petimetre (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · da laps (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · ru де́нди (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · cmn 花花公子 (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · pt casquilho (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · uk чепурун (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · ru фат (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · bg конте́ (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · sh dasa (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · fi mesaani (small after-sail on a yawl) · mk ко́нте (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · nb spradebasse (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · hi रंगीला (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · es pisaverde (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · pl dandy (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · la formaster (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · ja 伊達者 (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · es boquirrubio (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · nb laps (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · ota هوپپا (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · cs parádník (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · ja 伊達男 (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · it figurino (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · cs dandy (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · fr dandy (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · it fighetto (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · bg франт (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · rsk нялкош (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · ko 멋쟁이 (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · hy պճնամոլ (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · ru хлыщ (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · tr züppe (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · ga gaige (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · pl dandys (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · mk кицош (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance) · ca gomós (man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance)