juicy

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English jousy, formed from Middle English jous + -y,^[2][3][4] from juice,^[5][6][7] Middle English jus, jous,^[2][3] from Old French jus (“juice, sap, liquid”),^[6] from Latin ius (“broth, sauce, juice, soup”),^[6] from Proto-Indo-European *yeue- (“to blend, mix food”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a drunkard's head, full of liquor: about 1425, in Lydgate's Troy Book, where a drunkard "noddeth ofte with his Iowsy hed".^[3] The OED's first quotation, in the sense full of juice, is from Lydgate's minor poems, about 1430.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The literal sense, full of juice or succulent, has been used since the 15th century,^[5][6][7] and Johnson (1755) defined it simply as "moist; full of juice".^[8] The figurative sense came early: in the 1620s the preacher Robert Sanderson spoke of juicy heirs, rich young men fit to be sucked dry by gamblers,^[9][5] and later the word meant rich in interest, the opposite of "dry".^[5] In colloquial use it was applied to rainy weather from 1837,^[5] and in the slang of art critics to rich, moist-looking colour from 1897.^[5] The sense "suggestive, racy, sensational" dates from 1883,^[5][6] and "excellent, first-rate, profitable" from 1916.^[5] Green's Dictionary of Slang records juicy for a well-paid or rewarding post or deal in American slang of the early 20th century, and the noun a juicy for a kiss (1976).^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1425 – full of liquor, of a drunkard's head.^[3]
• c. 1430 – full of juice, succulent.^[5]
• 1621 – rich, fit to be sucked dry.^[9][5]
• 1837 – of weather, rainy (colloquial).^[5]
• 1883 – suggestive, racy, sensational.^[5][6]
• 1897 – of colour in painting, rich and moist-looking.^[5]
• 1916 – excellent, first-rate; profitable.^[5]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Full of juice; succulent: a juicy peach.
2. (informal) Interesting because of scandalous or racy details: She couldn't wait to share the juicy news.
3. (informal, chiefly US) Bringing in a lot of money; profitable: a juicy contract.
4. (slang) Sexually attractive.

Word family

• juicily
• juiciness

Related words

• juice
• jus

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com