rocky

See also: Rocky and Rockies

English

WOTD – 21 November 2021

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) enPR: rŏk'i, IPA(key): /ˈɹɒki/, [ˈɹʷɒki]
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈɹɑki/, [ˈɹʷɑki]
  • Audio (Midwestern US):(file)
  • (General Australian) IPA(key): /ˈɹɔki/, [ˈɹʷɔki]
  • Rhymes: -ɒki

Etymology 1

From Middle English rokki, rokky (“rocky”),[1] from rok, rokke (“rock; a rock or stone; large rock by a coast or in the sea; rocky outcrop on a mountain, cliff; castle, citadel, stronghold”) [and other forms][2] + -i (suffix forming adjectives).[3] Rok, rokke are derived from:

both from Medieval Latin roca, rocca; further etymology uncertain, possibly of Celtic origin. The English word is analysable as rock +‎ -y (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘having the quality of’).[4][5]

Adjective

rocky (comparative rockier or more rocky, superlative rockiest or most rocky)

  1. Abounding in, or full of, rocks; consisting of rocks.
    a rocky mountain    a rocky shore
    • 2003, Margaret Rose Orbell, Carolyn Lagahetau, Birds of Aotearoa: a natural and cultural history:
      The pihoihoi live in the island's interior, and the torea on its rocky shore.
    • 2021, Claire Maxted, “Quick Start”, in The Ultimate Trail Running Handbook: Get Fit, Confident and Skilled Up to Go from 5K to 50K, London: Bloomsbury Sport, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 25:
      When faced with a rockier or muddier section, look ahead for the easiest way across. This might involve hopping from one rock to another, or looking for flat sections or patches of vegetation that might be grippier.
  2. Like a rock; rigid, solid.
    Synonyms: flinty; rocklike, rock-like; stonelike
    • 1988, Lloyd Pye Lloyd Pye, Mismatch, →ISBN, page 134:
      Marsh went on as his prisoner drank. "Because you're caught in the middle of my alternate plan, Ram-Jam, which ram-jams your ass between the rockiest rock and the hardest hard place you ever imagined.
  3. (Of an animal or plant) Having a habitat around or on rocks.
  4. (figuratively, archaic) Not easily affected or impressed; stony; hard; obdurate; unfeeling.
    to have a rocky heart
Derived terms
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Etymology 2

From rock (“to move back and forth”) +‎ -y (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘having the quality of’).[5][6] Rock is derived from Middle English rokken (“to move (something, such as a cradle) back and forth; to move or sway back and forth in an unstable manner; to go”) […],[7] from Old English roccian (“to rock”), from Proto-Germanic *rukkōną (“to move; to move back and forth, rock”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃rewk- (“to dig; to till (soil)”).

Adjective

rocky (comparative rockier or more rocky, superlative rockiest or most rocky)

  1. Easily rocked; unstable.
    Synonyms: tottering, wobbly
    The table was rocky, so we put a book under one leg.
  2. (figuratively)
    1. Encountering many problems; difficult, troubled; also, in danger or distress.
      (encountering many problems): Synonyms: hard, tough; see also Thesaurus:difficult
      (in danger): Synonyms: unsteady; see also Thesaurus:unsteady
      Their relationship had weathered some rocky times, but they loved each other.
    2. (originally US) Of a person: ill, or unsteady (for example, as a result of a shock).
      Synonyms: shaky, unnerved, weakened
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 3

From rock (“rock and roll music”) +‎ -y (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘having the quality of’).[5][8]

Adjective

rocky (comparative rockier or more rocky, superlative rockiest or most rocky)

  1. In the style of rock music.
    Synonyms: rockish; rockesque; rocklike, rock-like
    His new album is quite rocky.
Translations

References

  1. ^ “rokkī, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ “rok(ke, n.(1)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  3. ^ “-ī̆, suf.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  4. ^ Compare “rocky, adj.1”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, June 2021.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 “rocky, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  6. ^ “rocky, adj.2”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, June 2021.
  7. ^ “rokken, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  8. ^ “rocky, adj.3”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2019.

Further reading

Anagrams

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