BALMY (balmier, balmiest)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: balmier    , balmiest   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does balmy mean? 

• BALMY (adjective)
  The adjective BALMY has 2 senses:

1. informal or slang terms for mentally irregular

2. mild and pleasant

  Familiarity information: BALMY used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BALMY (adjective)

Comparative: balmier   
Superlative: balmiest   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Informal or slang terms for mentally irregular

Synonyms:

around the bend; balmy; barmy; bats; batty; bonkers; buggy; cracked; crackers; daft; dotty; fruity; haywire; kookie; kooky; loco; loony; loopy; nuts; nutty; round the bend; wacky; whacky

Context example:

it used to drive my husband balmy

Similar:

insane (afflicted with or characteristic of mental derangement)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Mild and pleasant

Synonyms:

balmy; mild; soft

Context example:

a soft breeze

Similar:

clement ((of weather or climate) physically mild)

Derivation:

balm (any of various aromatic resinous substances used for healing and soothing)

 Context examples 

A line of broken water traced the dangerous bar, which in clear day and balmy weather has cracked the back of many a tall ship.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Don't know anything about the north, but am altogether salubrious and balmy, hey, my lady?

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

A young man, very pale and worn, was lying upon a sofa near the open window, through which came the rich scent of the garden and the balmy summer air.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I was in my own room, and sitting by the window, which was open: it soothed me to feel the balmy night-air; though I could see no stars and only by a vague, luminous haze, knew the presence of a moon.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

In the meanwhile also the black ground was covered with herbage, and the green banks interspersed with innumerable flowers, sweet to the scent and the eyes, stars of pale radiance among the moonlight woods; the sun became warmer, the nights clear and balmy; and my nocturnal rambles were an extreme pleasure to me, although they were considerably shortened by the late setting and early rising of the sun, for I never ventured abroad during daylight, fearful of meeting with the same treatment I had formerly endured in the first village which I entered.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

It was the second time he had been out with her alone, and as they rode along through the balmy warmth, just chilled by she sea-breeze to refreshing coolness, he was profoundly impressed by the fact that it was a very beautiful and well-ordered world and that it was good to be alive and to love.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I have to inform you, my dearest Fanny, that Henry has been down to Portsmouth to see you; that he had a delightful walk with you to the dockyard last Saturday, and one still more to be dwelt on the next day, on the ramparts; when the balmy air, the sparkling sea, and your sweet looks and conversation were altogether in the most delicious harmony, and afforded sensations which are to raise ecstasy even in retrospect.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)