Etymologically
Log in

classy

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 24 October 2026 at 18:43. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈklɑːsi/, /ˈklæsi/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English class + -y,[2][3][4][5][6] the noun coming from French classe and Latin classis (“a class, division”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of high or superior class, especially stylish and sophisticated: 1870, in a letter of H. J. Byron.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The word started as a colloquial or slang term;[3][6] Green's Dictionary of Slang quotes the Sporting Times in 1884 for a get-up "of the classiest".[7] Etymonline dates the word to 1891, and Dictionary.com to the early 1890s.[5][8] In American slang classy was also an adverb, "in a stylish way", as in Dashiell Hammett in 1934.[7] Collins still labels it informal.[9]

Timeline

  • 1870 – of high class, stylish.[2][4]
  • 1884 – in the Sporting Times.[7]
  • 1934 – adverb, in a stylish way (US).[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. (informal) Elegant and stylish; having class: They stayed in a classy hotel by the lake.

Adverb

  1. (US slang) In a stylish way.

Word family

  • classiness
  • classily
  • unclassy

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b c d Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins