Sandy

How to spell sandy

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce sandy

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does sandy mean?

1. adjectiveCovered with, containing, or resembling sand.
2. adjectiveOf a light yellowish-brown colour, especially of hair.

Sandy in a sentence

• The children tracked sandy footprints across the kitchen floor.

• His sandy hair turned almost blond after the summer holiday.

• The long, sandy beach stretched for miles past the dunes.

• The witness described a tall man with a sandy beard.

Where does sandy come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a native English word built on 'sand', which comes from the Old English 'sand', a word for the fine, granular material found on beaches and in deserts. That noun traces back to a common Germanic root shared with Dutch 'zand' and German 'Sand', and ultimately connects to an ancient root meaning to grind or rub down, the very process that produces sand from larger rock. The adjective form was made by adding the productive suffix '-y', meaning 'full of' or 'resembling', a pattern English uses freely (rocky, muddy, dusty). It has meant 'covered with or containing sand' since the Old English period, and a secondary use describing yellowish-brown hair colour developed by comparison to the colour of beach sand. The spelling is refreshingly regular, with the only point of care being that the final '-y' is simply added to the whole word 'sand'.

How the word is built

• sand (granular eroded rock)
• -y (adjective suffix: full of, resembling)