hairy

English

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈhɛə.ɹi/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈhɛɚ.i/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛəɹi

Adjective

hairy (comparative hairier, superlative hairiest)

1. (of a person) Having a lot of hair on the body.

   a hairy man

2. (of an animal) Having a lot of fur.

   hairy mammoth

3. (of a body part other than the head) Having hair growing from it.

   She is a great admirer of hairy chests.

4. (informal) Difficult, complex, intricate, or intimidating.

   It’s a hairy problem, and will probably take several weeks to sort out.

5. (informal) Causing anxiety or fright; terrifying, scary.

Synonyms

• (person): furry, hairful, hirsute
• (animal): furry
• (body part): villous, furry, hirsute

Antonyms

• bald
• hairless

Derived terms

• Andean hairy armadillo
• big, fat, hairy deal
• big hairy armadillo
• big hairy deal
• black hairy tongue syndrome
• hairily
• hairiness
• hairy armadillo
• hairy balls
• hairy ball theorem
• hairy canary
• hairy cell
• hairy click beetle
• hairy Darling pea
• hairy-eared dwarf lemur
• hairy eyeball
• hairy frog
• hairy hedgehog
• hairy leukoplakia
• hairy molly
• hairy nightshade
• hairy panic
• hairy-soled conyrat
• hairy spider orchid
• hairy-tailed mole
• hairy willowherb
• hairy woodpecker
• northern hairy-nosed wombat
• screaming hairy armadillo
• Shanghai hairy crab
• southern hairy-nosed wombat
• Venus's hairstone

 

Translations

of a person

Arabic: مشعر Armenian: մազոտ (hy) (mazot) Aromanian: piros Belarusian: валаса́ты (valasáty) Bulgarian: космат (bg) (kosmat) Catalan: pelut (ca), pilós Chinese: Mandarin: 毛茸茸的 (zh) (máoróngrōng de), 多毛的 (zh) (duōmáo de), 長毛的／长毛的 (zh) (zhǎngmáo de) Danish: håret, behåret Dutch: harig (nl), behaard (nl) Estonian: karvane (et) Finnish: karvainen (fi) French: poilu (fr) Friulian: pelôs Galician: peludo (gl), cabeludo (gl) Georgian: თმიანი (tmiani) German: behaart (de), haarig (de) Greek: τριχωτός (el) (trichotós) Ancient: δασύς (dasús), πολύτριχος (polútrikhos), βλοσυρός (blosurós) Hebrew: שעיר (he) Hungarian: szőrös (hu) Ingrian: karvain Irish: (please verify) clúmhach Italian: peloso (it) Japanese: 毛深い (けぶかい, kebukai), 毛むくじゃらの (kemukujara no) Latin: pilōsus, villōsus Latvian: matains, spalvains Macedonian: вла́кнест (vláknest), ко́смат (kósmat), ко́смест (kósmest) Maltese: muswaf Maori: pūhuruhuru, tuahuru Norman: pouailu Norwegian: Bokmål: behåret, behåra, håret, hårete Occitan: pelut (oc) Old English: rūh Persian: پرمو (fa) (pormu) Plautdietsch: hoarich Polish: włochaty (pl), owłosiony (pl) Portuguese: peludo (pt) Romanian: păros (ro) Russian: волоса́тый (ru) (volosátyj) Sardinian: pilosu, pirosu Scottish Gaelic: molach Serbo-Croatian: dlakav (sh) Slovak: vlasatý South Efate: ululu Spanish: peludo (es), velludo (es) Swedish: hårig (sv) Tibetan: སྤུ་མང་པོ (spu mang po) Turkish: kıllı (tr) Ukrainian: волоха́тий (voloxátyj), волоса́тий (volosátyj) Welsh: blewog (cy) Yiddish: האָריק (horik)

of an animal

Armenian: թավամազ (hy) (tʻavamaz), բրդոտ (hy) (brdot) Bulgarian: космат (bg) (kosmat) Danish: lodden Dutch: harig (nl) Estonian: karvane (et) Esperanto: vila (eo) Finnish: karvainen (fi) Galician: peludo (gl) German: pelzartig Greek: Ancient: δασύς (dasús), πολύτριχος (polútrikhos) Hungarian: szőrös (hu) Ingrian: karvain Irish: (please verify) clúmhach Latin: pilōsus, hispidus Latvian: spalvains Macedonian: вла́кнест (vláknest), ко́смат (kósmat), ко́смест (kósmest) Marathi: केसाळ (kesāḷ) Polish: włochaty (pl) Portuguese: peludo (pt) Russian: мохна́тый (ru) (moxnátyj) Scottish Gaelic: molach Slovak: chlpatý Spanish: peludo (es), velludo (es), lanudo (es) Sranan Tongo: fugufugu Swedish: hårig (sv) Turkish: kürklü (tr), postlu (tr)

of a body part other than the head

Arabic: مُشَعَّر (mušaʕʕar) Bulgarian: окосмен (bg) (okosmen) Danish: håret, behåret Dutch: harig (nl), behaard (nl) Estonian: karvane (et) Finnish: karvainen (fi) French: poilu (fr) Galician: peludo (gl) German: behaart (de), haarig (de) Hebrew: שעיר (he) Hungarian: szőrös (hu) Ingrian: karvain Irish: (please verify) clúmhach Italian: peloso (it) Latin: pilosus Latvian: spalvains, matains Macedonian: вла́кнест (vláknest), ко́смат (kósmat), ко́смест (kósmest) Norman: pouailu Norwegian: Bokmål: behåret, behåra, håret, hårete Polish: zarośnięty, owłosiony (pl) Portuguese: peludo (pt) Russian: волоса́тый (ru) (volosátyj) Slovak: chlpatý Spanish: peludo (es), velludo (es) Swedish: hårig (sv) Turkish: kıllı (tr)

difficult, complex, intricate, or intimidating

Polish: ryzykowny (pl), trudny (pl)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Isthmus Zapotec: (please verify) naraxi Yucatec Maya: (please verify) tso'otsil

See also

• dasypygal

Anagrams

• Yahir