greasy

Etymology

It is formed from English grease + -y.^[2][3][4] Grease is from Anglo-Norman grece, Old French gresse, from Vulgar Latin *crassia (“melted animal fat”), from Latin crassus (“thick, solid, fat”), which is of unknown origin.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Smeared or soiled with grease: 1514 according to Merriam-Webster,^[5] and about 1518 in the OED, in Cocke Lorelles Bote.^[3] Etymonline dates it to the 1510s.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Already before 1529, in Skelton, greasy was a term of contempt or abuse,^[3] and between 1542 and 1583 Protestant writers used it of Roman Catholic priests, in mockery of their anointing.^[3] From 1592 it meant made of or full of grease, especially of fatty food,^[3] and since 1598 filthy or obscene, especially of language.^[3] Shakespeare used it of wool still containing its natural grease, a sense that later gave the noun greasy for such wool (1883).^[3] Johnson (1755) gave "oily; fat; unctuous" and "smeared with grease".^[6] From 1801 the word described roads slippery with mud or moisture,^[3] a sense the English Dialect Dictionary recorded across northern and midland England,^[7] and since 1848, in Thackeray, a disagreeably oily or ingratiating manner.^[3] The greasy spoon, a small cheap restaurant, is recorded from 1906.^[2] In Australian slang a greasy is a sheep shearer (from 1939) or an outback cook.^[8][9]

Timeline

• 1514 – smeared or soiled with grease.^[5]
• before 1529 – as a term of contempt.^[3]
• 1592 – made of or full of grease; of food, fatty.^[3]
• 1598 – filthy, obscene.^[3]
• 1700 – looking or feeling as if covered with grease.^[3]
• 1801 – of a road, slippery with mud or moisture.^[3]
• 1848 – of manner or voice, unpleasantly oily.^[3]
• 1906 – greasy spoon.^[2]
• 1939 – Australian slang, a shearer.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Covered or soiled with grease or oil: greasy overalls.^[9][5][3]
2. Containing a lot of grease or fat: a plate of greasy sausages.^[9][3]
3. Like grease in look or feel; slippery: The cobbles were greasy after the rain.^[9][3]
4. Unpleasantly smooth and ingratiating in manner; unctuous.^[9][5][3]
5. Of wool: not yet cleaned of its natural grease.^[3][8]

Noun

1. (Australia, slang) A sheep shearer.^[9][8]
2. (Australia, slang) A cook in the outback, especially one cooking for a group of workers.^[9]

Word family

• greasily
• greasiness
• nongreasy
• overgreasy
• ungreasy

Related words

• grease
• crass
• greasy spoon

Usage notes

In the United States the word is said with /s/ in the North and West and with /z/ in the South and South Midland.^[5][10] British speakers mostly use /z/.^[5] Merriam-Webster notes that some speakers use /s/ for the literal sense and /z/ to suggest something unpleasant.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
7. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
8. ^ a b c d Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
9. ^ a b c d e f g Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House