Waxy means smooth, slightly greasy and firm. A waxy coating, waxy skin, waxy leaves.
Plants use a waxy layer to keep water in, which is why leaves bead rain. Waxy potatoes hold their shape when boiled and floury ones fall apart, which is the whole basis of choosing between them. Of skin it is a sign of illness and the word appears in clinical description. Note wax; and that the word is Middle English.
1adjectivewaxySmooth, slightly greasy and firm.
“He looked ill, with pale, waxy skin and dark circles under his eyes.”
waxy is a quality of texture.
Middle English waxi is wax plus -y. Wax comes from Old English weax and is Germanic.
Middle English
waxi
English, today
waxy
From Middle English waxi, wexy, equivalent to wax + -y.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA