hairy

CEFRC1

/ˈhɛə.ɹi/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Covered with or having a lot of hair.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Having hair growing from it.

Examples

  • Dan used to be so scared of big hairy spiders.

  • I'm scared of big, black, hairy tarantulas!

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
3
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /ˈheːɹi/
  • /ˈheɹe/

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings
  1. Having a lot of body hair.

  2. Having a lot of fur.

  3. Seeming as if hair-covered or as if consisting of hair.

More examples

In context
  • You don't have to go getting so hairy about such a small thing.

  • Near-synonyms: long-haired, furry, fluffy

  • hairy mammoth

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The blank dog needed a bath because it was covered in dirt.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

From Middle English hery, heeri, hary, equivalent to hair + -y. Compare Saterland Frisian hierich (“hairy”), West Frisian hierrich (“hairy”), Dutch harig (“hairy”), German Low German harig (“hairy”), German haarig (“hairy”), Swedish hårig (“hairy”), Icelandic hárugur (“hairy”). Compare also Old English hǣriht (“hairy”) and ġehǣre (“hairy”). The sense "terrifying, scary" possibly results from a blend of hair-raising and scary.