What does "paddy" mean?

Rough or unhusked rice, either before it is milled or as a crop to be harvested.

What is a synonym for "paddy"?

Common synonyms include: rice paddy, bluebottle, bobby, bull, catfit, caucasian.

//ˈpædi// adj, name, noun, slang

adj, name, noun, slang ·Common ·High school level

Noun

1
Rough or unhusked rice, either before it is milled or as a crop to be harvested. countable, uncountable
"Taking out a handful of paddy the old woman exclaimed, “Look how good this paddy is! It is called Malbhog – it makes excellent puffed rice.”"
2
A fit of temper; a tantrum.
"throw a paddy etc."
3
A snowy sheathbill.
4
An Irish person. offensive, slang, sometimes
"It is in this context of Irishphobia that the racist caricature of the drunken, violent, ignorant Paddy was established."
5
rice in the husk either gathered or still in the field wordnet

Show 6 more definitions

6
A paddy field, a rice paddy; an irrigated or flooded field where rice is grown. countable
7
A white person. slang
"You know what I like best about paddy chicks? They give good head. Black broads don’t know nothing about giving head. I don’t know why. Might be it has something to do with some ancient tribal custom."
8
an irrigated or flooded field where rice is grown wordnet
9
A labourer's assistant or workmate. England, colloquial
10
(ethnic slur) offensive term for a person of Irish descent wordnet
11
A drill used in boring wells, with cutters that expand on pressure.

Adjective

1
Low; mean; boorish; vagabond. obsolete
"Even after the expiration of four months the condition of the paddy persons continued most destitute. The English soldiers became mere barefoot starving beggars in the streets[…]"

Proper Noun

1
An Irish nickname for Patrick.
"...He jumped into the water as frisky as a whale Swam around the U-boat wagging his little tail He upped with his horn and he stuck it in the boat And sent them all to Heligoland did Paddy McGinty's goat..."

"Click the picture of the frog riding the stag beetle, Paddy."

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Malay padi (“paddy plant”). Doublet of palay.

Etymology 2

English dialect paddy (“worm-eaten”).

Etymology 3

Possibly from Paddy (“Irishman”).

Etymology 4

Perhaps after the paddy bird, or egret.

Etymology 5

From Irish Pád(raig) (“Patrick”) + -y.

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