lacy

Etymology

It is formed from English lace + -y.^[2][3][4][5] The noun lace goes back through Old French laz (“net, noose, cord”) to Latin laqueus (“a noose, a snare”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Resembling lace, or having a delicate lace-like structure: 1804, in C. Smith's Conversations introducing Poetry.^[3][2][6]

Semantic evolution

The word comes from lace in its decorative sense.^[2] The sense "made of or trimmed with lace" followed in 1853, in a newspaper advertisement.^[3] The adverb lacily dates from the mid-20th century and the noun laciness from the early 20th century.^[4] In American slang, lacy meant effeminate or homosexual from 1944, and sexy from 1959.^[7]

Timeline

• 1804 – resembling lace; having a delicate lace-like structure.^[3][2][6]
• 1853 – made of or trimmed with lace.^[3]
• 1944 – in American slang, effeminate.^[7]
• 1959 – in American slang, sexy.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Made of, trimmed with, or resembling lace: a lacy christening gown.^[8][4][3][6]
2. Having a delicate, open pattern like lace: lacy wrought-iron railings.^[3][6]
3. (US slang) Effeminate.^[7]

Word family

• laciness
• lacily

Related words

• lace
• lasso

References

1. ^ 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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins