Willowy means tall, slim and graceful. A willowy figure, willowy and pale, a willowy dancer.
It is complimentary and almost always used of women, and it borrows the willow's particular quality: thin, tall and bending rather than merely thin. A willowy person moves well, which is what separates the word from skinny.
1adjectivewillowyTall, slim and graceful.
“A willowy young woman in a long dress glided across the dance floor.”
willowy is a quality of build.
Proto-Indo-European
*welik-
Proto-Germanic
*wiligaz
Proto-West Germanic
*wilig
Old English
welig
Middle English
wilwe
English
willow
English, today
willowy
Built from
From willow + -y. willow comes from Middle English wilwe, welew, variant of wilghe, from Old English welig, from Proto-West Germanic wilig, from Proto-Germanic wiligaz, from Proto-Indo-European welik- (compare (Arcadian) Ancient Greek ἑλίκη, hit 𒌑𒂖𒆪 (“grass”)), from wel- (“twist, turn”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA