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rheumy

UK/ˈɹuːmi/US/ˈɹumi/
adjectiveC2Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechToo rare in one of the two pools to compare — fewer than 20 uses in speech or in writing

Rheumy means watery and dull, said of old eyes. Rheumy eyes, a rheumy gaze, rheumy and red.

It belongs almost entirely to descriptions of the very old in fiction. The rheum in it is an old medical word for a watery discharge, and rheumatism comes from the same idea of a flow through the body.

Definitions of rheumy

  1. 1adjectiverheumyWatery and dull, said of old eyes.C2

    “The old man looked up from his chair with rheumy eyes and a gentle smile.”

rheumy is a quality.

Where it comes from

From rheum, an old medical word for a watery discharge, from Greek rheuma, a flowing.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *srew-

  2. English, today

    rheumy

From rheum + y.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire

Practise this word