Deedy
adj ·2 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Industrious; active.
"The novelist Ivy Compton-Burnett, asked by the London Times to give a brief account of her life, replied: "There isn't much to say. I haven't been at all deedy." Deedy! This is one of those words that, once you have seen it, makes you wonder why it isn't in everyday use. The job interviewer, going through a pile of submitted résumés: "This one's all right, but … no, not deedy enough." The biographer or obituarist: "The next few years were his deediest …" The self-improvement guru: "Deediness depends on a positive attitude!" The psychiatrist's patient: "I married George because he seemed so deedy, but …""
- 2 Earnest; serious.
- 3 Genuine, authentic; actual, real. dialectal
Example
More examples"The novelist Ivy Compton-Burnett, asked by the London Times to give a brief account of her life, replied: "There isn't much to say. I haven't been at all deedy." Deedy! This is one of those words that, once you have seen it, makes you wonder why it isn't in everyday use. The job interviewer, going through a pile of submitted résumés: "This one's all right, but … no, not deedy enough." The biographer or obituarist: "The next few years were his deediest …" The self-improvement guru: "Deediness depends on a positive attitude!" The psychiatrist's patient: "I married George because he seemed so deedy, but …""
Etymology
From deed + -y. Cognate with Scots deedie, deedy (“active”). Compare also German tätig (“active”).
More for "deedy"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.