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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

waspy en · ADJ · etymology 1

Pronunciation

  • /ˈwɒspi/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /ˈwɑspi/ (General-American)
  • (Australia) audio

Etymology

From wasp + -y.

Meanings

  1. Resembling or characteristic of a wasp; wasplike.
    • I'm blond and blue-eyed and twenty-five, and my legs are strong and my bosom is substantial, and I have a waspy waistline. 2001, Charlaine Harris, Dead Until Dark:
  2. Infested with wasps.
    • a waspy apple
  3. Waspish; irascible.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
waspiest Degree=Sup lexicographic
waspier Degree=Cmp lexicographic

waspy en · ADJ · etymology 2

Pronunciation

  • /ˈwɒspi/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /ˈwɑspi/ (General-American)
  • (Australia) audio

Meanings

  1. (slang) Like a wasp (white Anglo-Saxon Protestant), a member of the dominant American upper-class culture.
    • “I wasn’t asking the traditional waspy preppy types. 2007 June 17, Allen Salkin, “Manny and the Socialites: Let’s Roll”, in New York Times:
    • At a glance, Thor Steinar resembles waspy American pseudo-collegiate brands like Abercrombie and Fitch, Hollister, and Aeropostale, while displaying a distinctly Nordic aesthetics. 2017, Geneviève Zubrzycki, National Matters: Materiality, Culture, and Nationalism:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
waspiest Degree=Sup lexicographic
WASPy alternative lexicographic
waspier Degree=Cmp lexicographic

Relateds

waspie