DANDY (dandier, dandiest)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: dandier    , dandiest   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does dandy mean? 

• DANDY (noun)
  The noun DANDY has 2 senses:

1. a man who is much concerned with his dress and appearance

2. a sailing vessel with two masts; a small mizzen is aft of the rudderpost

  Familiarity information: DANDY used as a noun is rare.

• DANDY (adjective)
  The adjective DANDY has 1 sense:

1. very good

  Familiarity information: DANDY used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DANDY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A man who is much concerned with his dress and appearance

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

beau; clotheshorse; dandy; dude; fashion plate; fop; gallant; sheik; swell

Hypernyms ("dandy" is a kind of...):

adult male; man (an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dandy"):

cockscomb; coxcomb (a conceited dandy who is overly impressed by his own accomplishments)

macaroni (a British dandy in the 18th century who affected Continental mannerisms)

Instance hyponyms:

Beau Brummell; Brummell; George Bryan Brummell (English dandy who was a fashion leader during the Regency (1778-1840))

Derivation:

dandify (dress like a dandy)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A sailing vessel with two masts; a small mizzen is aft of the rudderpost

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

dandy; yawl

Hypernyms ("dandy" is a kind of...):

sailing ship; sailing vessel (a vessel that is powered by the wind; often having several masts)

• DANDY (adjective)

Comparative: dandier   
Superlative: dandiest   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Very good

Synonyms:

bang-up; bully; corking; cracking; dandy; great; groovy; keen; neat; nifty; not bad; old; peachy; slap-up; smashing; swell

Context example:

we had a grand old time

Similar:

good (having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified)

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

 Context examples 

He was a good worker. He's done a heap of work for me. He never loafed on me, an' he was a joe-dandy at hammerin' a raw team into shape.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

He had changed little, was dressed like a young man of fashion—he was always a bit of a dandy—and preserved the same quiet, suave manner which had formerly distinguished him.

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

You could not now traverse the gallery, once so hushed, nor enter the front chambers, once so tenantless, without encountering a smart lady's-maid or a dandy valet.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

You are not a dandy, thank Heaven, so I'm glad to see there are no diamonds or big seal rings on it, only the little old one Jo gave you so long ago.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

It's a dandy, well-appointed, small steam laundry.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

It is seven-and-forty years since I looked upon that circle of dandies, and where, now, are their dainty little hats, their wonderful waistcoats, and their boots, in which one could arrange one’s cravat?

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The most, however, were young and dandy archers, with fresh English faces, their beards combed out, their hair curling from under their close steel hufkens, with gold or jewelled earrings gleaming in their ears, while their gold-spangled baldrics, their silken belts, and the chains which many of them wore round their thick brown necks, all spoke of the brave times which they had had as free companions.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I thought you'd got over the dandy period, but every now and then it breaks out in a new spot.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Smart maids, with the rosiest children I ever saw, handsome girls, looking half asleep, dandies in queer English hats and lavender kids lounging about, and tall soldiers, in short red jackets and muffin caps stuck on one side, looking so funny I longed to sketch them.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

He looked like an Italian, was dressed like an Englishman, and had the independent air of an American—a combination which caused sundry pairs of feminine eyes to look approvingly after him, and sundry dandies in black velvet suits, with rose-colored neckties, buff gloves, and orange flowers in their buttonholes, to shrug their shoulders, and then envy him his inches.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)