Wavy

How to spell wavy

4 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce wavy

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does wavy mean?

1. adjectiveHaving a series of smooth, curving rises and falls, like the form of waves.

Wavy in a sentence

• Her thick wavy hair fell loosely over her shoulders.

• The designer added a wavy border along the edge of the invitation.

Where does wavy come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word is a fairly modern English formation, built simply by adding the adjective-forming suffix -y to the noun 'wave'. The parent word 'wave' descends from the Old English verb 'wafian', which meant 'to move the hands to and fro' or 'to fluctuate', and was related to 'wafrian', 'to waver'. By the sixteenth century 'wave' had settled into its familiar sense of a moving ridge of water and, by extension, anything that rises and falls in a similar curving rhythm. 'Wavy' itself appears from around the same era to describe shapes, hair, lines, and surfaces that follow that gentle up-and-down or side-to-side curve. The spelling trap is small but real: 'wave' loses its silent final 'e' before the suffix, so it becomes 'wavy', not 'wavey'.

How the word is built

• wav- (from wave)
• -y (adjective suffix forming 'full of or resembling')