Resty

adj

adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Restive, resistant to control. British, regional

    "In vaine the Pagan bannes, and sweares, and rayles, / And backe with both his hands unto him hayles / The resty raynes […]"

  2. 2
    Disposed to rest; inactive, lazy. British, regional

    "[…] Come; our stomachs / Will make what’s homely savoury: weariness / Can snore upon the flint, when resty sloth / Finds the down pillow hard."

Example

More examples

"In vaine the Pagan bannes, and sweares, and rayles, / And backe with both his hands unto him hayles / The resty raynes […]"

Etymology

Variant of restiff.

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