Dictionary

tinfoily en · ADJ

Etymology

From tinfoil + -y.

Meanings

1. Resembling or characteristic of tinfoil.
   • The walls were festooned with silver and white tinfoily stuff, and on every table stood a tall slim vase, spilling over with sprayed silver flowers. 2011, Molly Hopkins, It Happened in Paris, page 379:
   • It tinkles. As it skitters along the ground, it makes a tinny, tinfoily little noise as its edges scrape along the concrete. 2006, Michael Chorost, Rebuilt: My Journey Back to the Hearing World, page 54:
   • “There’s a tinfoily blanket thing, a prescription bottle full of something. Pain pills?” 2015, Jessica Clare, Jen Frederick, Last Hope, page 138:
2. (derogatory, informal) Characteristic of or prone to paranoia or conspiracy theories.
   • By the time you land an engineering gig at Apple, you are a twitchy, tinfoily mess. 2019, Clive Thompson, quoting Blake Ross, Coders: The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World, page 75:

Forms