dandy

• IPA^(key): /ˈdæn.di/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ændi

Borrowed from Scots dandy (“a fop; one who is well-dressed”). Of uncertain origin.

Possibly from Dandy, a diminutive of Andrew, yet the Scots word is used also in reference to women. Alternatively, possibly a back-formation of Scots dandilly, dandillie (“one who is spoiled or pampered; a "pet"”). Compare English dandle and dander.

dandy (plural dandies)

1. A man very concerned about his physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance in a cult of self.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:dandy

   • 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 60, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:

     The gallant young Indian dandy at home on furlough — immense dandies these — chained and moustached — driving in tearing cabs, the pillars of the theatres, living at West End Hotels, — […]

   • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter VI, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 68:

     No town-bred dandy will compare with a country-bred one—I mean a downright bumpkin dandy–a fellow that, in the dog-days, will mow his two acres in buckskin gloves for fear of tanning his hands.

   • 1945, J. B. Priestley, chapter I, in An Inspector Calls:

     “Gerald Croft is an attractive chap about thirty, rather too manly to be a dandy but very much the easy well-bred young man-about-town.”

2. Something excellent in its class.
3. (British, nautical) A yawl, or a small after-sail on a yawl.
4. A dandy roller.
5. (UK, Ireland, slang, archaic) A small glass of whisky.
   • 1844, William Jesse, The life of George Brummell, page 57:

     Somebody quite as notorious as Brummell, but whose follies have been far more mischievous; whose eloquence is great, but certainly not always refined; and to whose health many a dandy of whisky has been tossed off.

• → Dutch: dandy
• → Esperanto: dando
• → Finnish: dandy
• → French: dandy, → French: dundee
• → German: Dandy
• → Japanese: ダンディ, ダンディー
• → Limburgish: dèndie
• → Polish: dandy
• → Spanish: dandy

• boulevardier
• man about town

dandy (comparative dandier, superlative dandiest)

1. Like a dandy, foppish.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:foppish

2. Very good; better than expected but not as good as could be.

   Synonyms: all very well, well and good

   That's all fine and dandy, but how much does it cost?

3. Excellent; first-rate.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:excellent

   What a dandy little laptop you have.

   • 1924, Boys' Life, page 27:

     Grip Sures are dandy shoes for anything that comes along. Hiking, climbing, canoeing, around camp or in the gym — you can't have anything better.

   • 1945, Mack David, Alex C Kramer, Joan Whitney, “Candy”, performed by Nat King Cole:

     Its gonna be just dandy / The day I take my Candy / And make him mine all mine

   • 1967 December 23, “Disney ‘Jungle Book’ Arrives Just in Time”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     A perfectly dandy cartoon feature, “The Jungle Book,” scooted into local theaters yesterday just ahead of the big day, and it's ideal for the children.

From Hindi डंडी (ḍaṇḍī, “rod, pole”), from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀟𑀁𑀟𑀺𑀕𑀸 (ḍaṃḍigā), from Sanskrit दण्डिका (daṇḍikā), from दण्ड (daṇḍa) + -इका (-ikā).

dandy (plural dandies)

1. (India) A boatman, a rower. [1685]
   • 1685 January 6, William Hedges, Diary, Vol. I, p. 175:

     Our Dandees (or boatmen) boyled their rice.

2. (India) A Shaiva mendicant who carries a small rod. [1832]
   • 1862, Henry Beveridge, A Comprehensive History of India..., volume II, page 74:

     ...the Dandis, distinguished by carrying a small dand or wand...

3. (India) An open sedan chair formed by suspending a rudimentary frame or strong cloth from a pole or set of poles. [1870]
   • 1870, Constance Frederica Gordon-Cumming, Good Words, p. 135:
   • As the darkness closed in... I had to give up the attempt to use the dandy, and struggle on on foot.
   • 1888 July 2, Times, page 5:

     Major Battye and Captain Urmston joined the rear and placed the wounded man in a dandy.

• dandi, dandie, dandee

• (open sedan chair): andor, jampan

• dandy-wallah

• “dandy | dandi, n³.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

• randy-dandy (probably not etymologically related)

Borrowed from English dandy.

• (Netherlands) IPA^(key): /ˈdɛn.di/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: dan‧dy

dandy m (plural dandy's, diminutive dandy'tje n)

1. dandy

   Synonyms: fat, pronker

Borrowed from English dandy.

• IPA^(key): /ˈdændi/, [ˈdændi]
• Rhymes: -ændi

dandy

1. dandy

• “dandy”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[2] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2 July 2023

English dandy.

• IPA^(key): /dɑ̃.di/

dandy m (plural dandys or dandies)

1. dandy
   • 1864, Charles Baudelaire, Mon cœur mis à nu:

     Le dandy doit aspirer à être sublime, sans interruption. Il doit vivre et dormir devant un miroir.

     The dandy must aspire to be constantly sublime. He must live and sleep in front of a mirror.

• “dandy”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• dandy

Unadapted borrowing from English dandy.

dandy m (uncountable)

1. dandy

• IPA^(key): [ˈdandi]

dandy m pers

1. dandy

• “dandy”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025

• dandi

Unadapted borrowing from English dandy.

• IPA^(key): /ˈdandi/ [ˈd̪ãn̪.d̪i]
• Rhymes: -andi
• Syllabification: dan‧dy

dandy m (plural dandys)

1. dandy

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

• “dandi”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024