Wiktionary

worky

English edit

WOTD – 1 May 2024

Pronunciation edit

Etymology 1 edit

From work (noun) +‎ -y (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘having the quality of’).

Adjective edit

worky (comparative workier, superlative workiest) (informal)

  1. Characterized by or pertaining to work.
    Synonyms: working, workish, worklike
    • [[1633], George Herbert, “Sunday”, in [Nicholas Ferrar], editor, The Temple: Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green, […], →OCLC; reprinted London: Elliot Stock, […], 1885, →OCLC, page 67:
      The vvorky-daies are the back-part; / The burden of the vveek lies there, / Making the vvhole to ſtoup and bovv, / Till thy [God's] releaſe appeare.
      Referring to working days, that is, weekdays.]
    • 1839 March 4 (date written), Margaret Fuller, “[Letter] 209. To Caroline Sturgis.”, in Robert N. Hudspeth, editor, The Letters of Margaret Fuller, volumes II (1839–41), Ithaca, N.Y.; London: Cornell University Press, published 1983 (1995 printing), →ISBN, page 58:
      I have had no duties of the worky sort except taking care of my own room, paying some attention to Mother and Ellen when sick and teaching Ellen and Richard two afternoons in the week.
    • 1842, Christopher North [pseudonym; John Wilson], “An Hour’s Talk about Poetry”, in Recreations of Christopher North. […], volume I, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, page 321:
      [I]n poetry the lights are triumphant—and gazing on the glory men's hearts burn within them—and they carry the joy in among their own griefs, till despondency gives way to exultation, and the day's darg of this worky world is lightened by a dawn of dreams.
    • 1859, Harriet Beecher Stowe, “Which Treats of Romance”, in The Minister’s Wooing, New York, N.Y.: Derby and Jackson, […], →OCLC, page 120:
      There is no end of the epigrams and witticisms which she can throw out, this elegant Mrs. T., on people who marry for love, lead prosy, worky lives, and put on their best cap with pink ribbons for Sunday.
    • 1896 October, Will Carleton, “At Home: The Passing of the Vacation”, in Will Carleton’s Magazine Every Where, volume III, number 2, Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.: Every Where Pub. Co., →OCLC, page 22:
      These are not necessarily melancholy days; they are very worky, playful, enjoyable ones to those who keep well and busy.
    • 1938, Clarice Madeline Dixon, High, Wide and Deep: Discovering the Preschool Child, New York, N.Y.: John Day Company, →OCLC, page 229:
      The Fours are having a very worky morning.
    • 2014, Steven Butler, “The Last Will and Testament of Dennis the Menace”, in The Diary of Dennis the Menace, London: Puffin Books, →ISBN, page 4:
      If you're reading this, I've popped my clogs from too much worky-boring-thinky stuff and not enough menacing.
  2. Especially of attire: appropriate for work; businesslike.
    • 2013, Gemma Burgess, Brooklyn Girls, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Griffin, →ISBN, page 191:
      The problem with the meet-me-at-a-bar date is that I want to look as great as possible, without looking like I've made too much effort. Dresses feel too dressy, skirts too girly, tanks too booby, shirts too worky, and then of course we have the whole shoes issue.
    • 2017, Joanne O’Sullivan, “Refugees”, in Between Two Skies, Somerville, Mass.: Candlewick Press, →ISBN, page 68:
      The secretary prints out a schedule and gives us our e-mail log-in and password, then says, "Hold on a minute" and comes back with someone who looks like a student, except that her clothes are a little worky.
  3. Requiring much work; laborious.
    • 1797, J[ohn] Price, quoting John Leland, “Sect. IV. Church, Charitable Foundations &c.”, in The Ludlow Guide, Comprising an Account of the Ancient and Present State of that Town, and It’s Neighbourhood; […], 2nd edition, Ludlow, Shropshire: […] H. Procter; sold also by T[homas] N[orton] Longman, […], →OCLC, page 67:
      Richard's Caſtle ſtandeth at the top of a very vvorky hill, vvell vvooded, and at the vveſt end of the Pariſh Church there.
    • 1999 October, Denis Clifford, Mary Randolph, “Use a QTIP Trust”, in 9 Ways to Avoid Estate Taxes, Berkeley, Calif.: Nolo, →ISBN, page 5/19:
      Estate planners seldom recommend partial QTIP elections, and most people who create QTIPs, and their executors, don't bother with them. They're just too worky and complicated.
    • 2000 August, Ralph [E.] Warner, “The Savvy Peasant’s Investment Guide”, in Get a Life: You Don't Need a Million to Retire Well, 3rd edition, Berkeley, Calif.: Nolo, →ISBN, page 323:
      [N]ot only will you need pricey insurance, but you'll probably want to form a corporation or limited liability company to protect your personal assets. All this may be fine for someone in the real estate business, but is far too worky for a savvy peasant who already has a busy life.
    • 2008 September, Stephen Elias, “Fighting Foreclosure in Court”, in The Foreclosure Survival Guide: Keep Your House or Walk Away with Money in Your Pocket, Berkeley, Calif.: Nolo, →ISBN, page 139:
      If, in your state, foreclosures proceed without court supervision (nonjudicial foreclosure), then you'll have to bring your own lawsuit—a more worky and costly process.
    • 2001, Ted Fletcher, “Ordinary Son”, in When God Comes Calling: A Journey of Faith … Wall Street to the World, Mobile, Ala.: Gazelle Press, Genesis Communications, →ISBN, page 15:
      Mom made sure we all knew the meaning of hard work, too. Many a Saturday morning began with the words I came to dread: "Today is the workiest of work days!" she would cheerfully announce. […] Mom had our full attention and a long list of chores to get done around the house.
    • 2021, Cassandra Alexander, “July 2020”, in Year of the Nurse: A Covid-19 Pandemic Memoir, [S.l.]: Caskara Press, →ISBN:
      Work is so worky today, y'all. We're short, we're proning three pts, and have paralyzed a fourth.
  4. Tending to be very serious about work; diligent, industrious.
    Synonym: (Britain, dialectal) workish
    Angelo has an important deadline, so he is all worky today.
    • 1936, Harry Hamilton, Banjo on My Knee, Indianapolis, Ind.: Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 117:
      […] Jasper is lazy as a dawg, so he wouldn't be much use to you, but Sexton's more worky … he could help you pull your skiff.
    • 1957, Marguerite Caetani, editor, Botteghe Oscure, volume 19, Rome: Botteghe Oscure, →OCLC, page 194:
      You will come here first. Don't arrive of course sans le me faire savoir [without letting me know]. I am very busy, very worky.
    • 1969, Daniel M. Holland, “The Effect of Taxation on Effort: Some Results for Business Executives”, in Stanley J. Bowers, editor, Proceedings of the Sixty-second Annual Conference on Taxation Held under the Auspices of the National Tax Association at Boston, Massachusetts, September 29 – October 3, 1969 […], volume 62, Columbus, Ohio: National Tax Association, published 1970, →ISSN, →JSTOR, →OCLC, pages 450–451:
      Ye Gods, I know what would happen to me, if I knew what my liability was in advance. I would be the planniest, schemiest, workiest citizen to get that covered just like we cover our overhead.
    • 1999, David Eddie, “Our Horrible Honeymoon”, in Housebroken: Confessions of a Stay-at-Home Dad, 1st Riverhead trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Riverhead Books, published May 2003, →ISBN, page 94:
      Pam's always been very worky; now I'm worky, too. We're quite a worky couple, and if one of us isn't working at any given moment that person feels guilty before the other and has to explain and justify. That's why our relationship works, I think: because we work together on various projects. We don't have time to argue.
    • 2011, Daniel Ibrahim, “Worktitudes”, in Opulently Organized Opportunity: From the Soul of Heaven, Pittsburgh, Pa.: Dorrance Publishing Company, →ISBN, act 1 (Away from the Blind!), page 32:
      [T]he "workier" you are, the healthier you become. […] Your work is the most economic gymnasium of all time. Hard work doesn't kill; it only refines.
  5. (obsolete) Showing the effect of much effort and work; intricate, involved.
    • 1849 April 9 (first performance), J[ames] R[obinson] Planché, The Seven Champions of Christendom. An Original Comic Fantastic Spectacle […], London: S. G. Fairbrother, […], published [1849], →OCLC, Act II, scene i, page 24:
      From England we came by the overland mail, / Waghorny quickly done; / […] / Where the sign of a dragon turns nobody pale; / But simply inspires a thought of pale ale, / With its whisky, frisky, worky, jerky, / Hoppery, poppery, spittery, bittery, / Frolicking frothy fun.
    • 1882, Nugent Robinson, compiler, “Painting”, in Collier’s Cyclopedia of Commercial and Social Information […], revised edition, New York, N.Y.: Peter Fenelon Collier, →OCLC, page 740, column 1:
      More water or meglip must be added as occasion requires [when painting on china]; but too much of the former is apt to produce a very worky appearance, and if too much of the latter is used the color will take a long time to dry.
Related terms edit
Translations edit
especially of attire: appropriate for work — see businesslike
requiring much work — see laborious
tending to be very serious about work — see diligent,‎ industrious

Etymology 2 edit

From work (noun) +‎ -y (suffix forming diminutive nouns).[1]

Noun edit

worky (plural workies)

  1. Alternative spelling of workie

References edit

  1. ^ Compare “workie, n.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, July 2023; “workie, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading edit

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