groovy

English

Alternative forms

• groovey

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɹuvi/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːvi

Etymology 1

groove +‎ -y

Adjective

groovy (comparative groovier, superlative grooviest)

1. Of, pertaining to, or having grooves.

   The back of the tile was groovy so that it could hold the adhesive compound.

2. (dated) Set in one's ways.
   • 1909, Rudyard Kipling, The House Surgeon

     She'd give anything to be able to believe it, but she's a hard woman, and brooding along certain lines makes one groovy.

Etymology 2

From the phrase in the groove, originally in reference to the grooves of an early phonograph record.

Adjective

groovy (comparative groovier, superlative grooviest)

1. (dated, slang) Cool, neat, interesting, fashionable. [popular in the 1940s and again in the 1960s-1970s]
   • 2012 May 24, Nathan Rabin, “Film: Reviews: Men In Black 3”, in The Onion AV Club‎^[1]:

     Men In Black 3 lacks the novelty of the first film, and its take on the late ’60s feels an awful lot like a psychedelic dress-up party, all broad caricatures and groovy vibes.

   • 2015 February 12, Tina Alexander and Daniel Baxter, “How X-Men: Days of Future Past Should Have Ended”, in How It Should Have Ended‎^[2], season 7, episode 3, YouTube, How It Should Have Ended, spoken by Superman (Daniel Baxter):

     Well, I love it! Move really fast, reverse time, save everyone? That sounds groovy! I’m gonna have to try that some day!

Derived terms

• grooviness

Translations

cool, neat, interesting

• Bulgarian: отличен (bg) (otličen), превъзходен (bg) (prevǎzhoden)
• Catalan: genial (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 时髦 (zh) (shí máo)

• Finnish: jännä (fi), mielenkiintoinen (fi)

• German: toll (de), fetzig (de), schick (de) (fashion)
• Italian: fico (it)
• Russian: клёвый (ru) (kljóvyj)
• Spanish: bacán (es), macanudo (es), genial (es)

Noun

groovy (plural groovies)

1. (dated, slang) A trendy and fashionable person.

References

• OED 2nd edition 1989