Bloody Meaning
/ˈblʌ.di/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjCovered in blood.
adjCharacterised by bloodshed.
Sentence Examples
There was not a bloody soul.
I'd like a Bloody Mary.
The battle was bloody and resulted in many casualties.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The boxer wiped his ____ nose with a towel during the break.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The soldier returned from the hard battle with a ____ bandage on his arm.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English blody, blodi, from Old English blōdiġ, blōdeġ (“bloody”), from Proto-West Germanic *blōdag, from Proto-Germanic *blōþagaz (“bloody”), equivalent to blood + -y. Cognate with Saterland Frisian bläidich, blöidig, blouderch (“bloody”), West Frisian bloedich (“bloody”), Dutch bloedig (“bloody”), German Low German blödig (“bloody”), German blutig (“bloody”), Danish blodig (“bloody”), Swedish blodig (“bloody”), Faroese blóðigur (“bloody”), Icelandic blóðugur (“bloody”). See Wikipedia for thoughts on sense evolution.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"And, as she fled, her mantle she did fall, / Which Lion vile with bloody mouth did stain."
— c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
"O Antony! Begge not your death of vs: / Though now we muſt appeare bloody and cruell, / As by our hands, and this our preſent Acte / You ſee we do: Yet ſee you but our hands, / And this, the bleeding buſineſſe they haue done:"
— 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 119:
"Some bloody paſſion ſhakes your very Frame:"
— c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii], page 336:
"I had therefore been, until now, out of the way of the bloody scenes that often occurred on the plantation."
— 1846 [1845], Frederick Douglass, chapter I, in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Boston: Anti-Slavery Office, page 8:
"The story of Elizabeth Bathory is one of the bloodiest in history."
— 2007, Lucinda Mallows, Lucy Mallows, Slovakia: The Bradt Travel Guide, page 169:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The boxer wiped his ____ nose with a towel during the break.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The soldier returned from the hard battle with a ____ bandage on his arm.