gussy

English edit

Etymology edit

1952, apparently from Gussy (adjective), schoolyard slang for “overly dressed” (1940); perhaps related to gussie (“effeminate man”) (1901) and somehow connected to Gussie, the nickname for Augusta and Augustus.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Verb edit

gussy (third-person singular simple present gussies, present participle gussying, simple past and past participle gussied)

(chiefly US) To dress up or decorate in a showy way.

Derived terms edit

gussy up

References edit

^ “gussy”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.: “Perhaps from Australian slang gussie, an effeminate man, from Gussie”
^ “gussy up”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.: “probably from the name Gussie”
^ “gussy”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022: “perhaps from Gussie”.
^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “gussy”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

[1] “gussy”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.: “Perhaps from Australian slang gussie, an effeminate man, from Gussie”

[2] “gussy up”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.: “probably from the name Gussie”

[3] “gussy”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022: “perhaps from Gussie”.

[4] Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “gussy”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

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