Fluey

adj

adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Downy; fluffy. obsolete

    "A black portmanteau, a black bag, a desk, a dressing-case, a brown-paper parcel, a hat-box, and an umbrella strapped to a walking-stick. It was all very dusty and fluey. I had our porter up to get under the bed and fetch it out; and though he habitually wallows in dust,--swims in it from morning to night, and wears a close-fitting waistcoat with black calimanco sleeves for the purpose,--it made him sneeze again, and his throat was that hot with it that it was obliged to be cooled with a drink of Allsopp's draft."

  2. 2
    As if suffering from influenza.

    "I felt fluey this morning: all bunged up, achey, dizzy and tired."

Example

More examples

"A black portmanteau, a black bag, a desk, a dressing-case, a brown-paper parcel, a hat-box, and an umbrella strapped to a walking-stick. It was all very dusty and fluey. I had our porter up to get under the bed and fetch it out; and though he habitually wallows in dust,--swims in it from morning to night, and wears a close-fitting waistcoat with black calimanco sleeves for the purpose,--it made him sneeze again, and his throat was that hot with it that it was obliged to be cooled with a drink of Allsopp's draft."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From flue + -y.

Etymology 2

From flu + -ey.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.