wispily

English

Etymology

wispy +‎ -ly

Adverb

wispily (comparative more wispily, superlative most wispily)

1. In a wispy manner.
   • 1908, Mary Hunter Austin, chapter 22, in Santa Lucia‎^[1], New York: Harper, page 282:

     From some far seaward cisterns of the air billows of fog poured down over the city of San Francisco; rebounding like smoke from the summer-heated fronts of hills, they settled in shady hollows and caught wispily at rows of trees.

   • 1922, D. H. Lawrence, chapter 6, in Aaron’s Rod‎^[2], London: Martin Secker, page 64:

     “Yes,” said Julia, vaguely and wispily. “Yes, dear, you have.”

   • 1959, Kurt Vonnegut, chapter 1, in The Sirens of Titan‎^[3], New York: Dial, published 2006, page 2:

     A man and his dog were going to materialize, were going to appear out of thin air—wispily at first, becoming, finally, as substantial as any man and dog alive.

   • 1971, Iris Murdoch, An Accidental Man‎^[4], New York: Viking, page 196:

     He caught a last glimpse of Mitzi’s large breasts bulging out above her brassiere, wispily veiled by the negligee.

   • 1991, Douglas Coupland, Generation X, New York: St. Martin's Press, →OCLC, page 64:

     But the fat man remains, as does the cashier, who is wispily blond, with a bony hillbilly nose and translucent white skin.