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silvery

UK/ˈsɪlvəɹi/US/ˈsɪlvəɹi/
adjectiveB2+Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #10,682 of 15,258leans written

Silvery means shining with a pale grey light. A silvery moon, silvery hair, a silvery sheen.

It describes the quality of the shine rather than the metal, so silvery hair is not grey but lit. It is also used of sound: a silvery laugh is light and ringing, and that sense is old and slightly literary.

Definitions of silvery

  1. 1adjectivesilveryShining with a pale grey light.B2+

    “The lake looked silvery in the moonlight.”

silvery is a quality.

Where it comes from

Silver plus -y. Silver is Old English seolfor, from a Germanic root of unknown further origin.

  1. Middle English

    silvery

  2. English, today

    silvery

From Middle English silvery, sylvyry; equivalent to silver + y.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

silvery in the wild

  • The silvery gibbon (Hylobates moloch), also known as the Javan gibbon, is a primate in the gibbon family Hylobatidae.

    Silvery gibbon

  • Like all gibbons, the silvery gibbon lacks an external tail, has dorsally placed scapulae, and reduced flexibility in its lumbar region.

    Silvery gibbon

  • The fur of the silvery marmoset is colored whitish silver-grey except for a dark tail.

    Silvery marmoset

  • The diet of the silvery marmosets predominantly consists of tree sap.

    Silvery marmoset

  • The silvery-cheeked hornbill (Bycanistes brevis) is a large species of hornbill found in Africa.

    Silvery-cheeked hornbill

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

  • silver