zootyadjective
Factsheet
What does the adjective zooty mean?
There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the adjective zooty. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the adjective zooty?
| 1940 | 0.0006 |
| 1950 | 0.0006 |
| 1960 | 0.0006 |
| 1970 | 0.0006 |
| 1980 | 0.0006 |
| 1990 | 0.0005 |
| 2000 | 0.0006 |
| 2010 | 0.0005 |
How is the adjective zooty pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the adjective zooty come from?
Earliest known use
1940s
The earliest known use of the adjective zooty is in the 1940s.
OED's earliest evidence for zooty is from 1942, in Thomasville (Georgia) Times-Enterprise.
zooty is formed within English, by derivation.
Etymons: zoot suit n., zoot n., ‑y suffix1.
Nearby entries
- zootomic, adj.1801–
- zootomical, adj.1799–
- zootomically, adv.1849–
- zootomist, n.1663–
- zootomy, n.1663–
- zootoxin, n.1906–
- zootrophy, n.1877–
- zoot suit, n.1942–
- zoot-suited, adj.1942–
- zoot-suiter, n.1942–
- zooty, adj.1942–
- zootype, n.1883–
- zootypic, adj.1853–
- zoowoman, n.1930–
- zooxanthella, n.1882–
- zooxanthellate, adj. & n.1981–
- zooxanthin, n.1868–
- zoozygosphere, n.1880–
- zope, n.1880–
- zophoric, adj.1728–
- zophorus | zoophorus, n.1563–
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- 1.1942–That is in the style of a zoot suit (zoot suit n. 1).
- 1942
Coats are loose and baggy although not zooty.
Thomasville (Georgia) Times-Enterprise 24 September 5/4 - 1946
Colored kids..work on their dungarees, pegging the legs till they're real sharp and zooty.
M. Mezzrow & B. Wolfe, Really Blues iv. xvi. 313 - 1974
The suits were..the zooty type—that's the American style of suiting with a straw hat.
Listener 8 August 166/1 - 2014
Female counterparts..wore similarly zooty jackets with a short skirt or even pegged trousers.
J. Blanco F. et al., Clothing & Fashion 343/2
- 2.1943–Fashionably or stylishly dressed; smart, stylish, ‘cool’.
- 1943
Mighty zooty lads in this here outfit.
Sheppard Field Texacts 17 April 8/1 - 1952
What the zootie character and the dude have in common is an overfastidious regard for clothing.
American Speech vol. 27 20 - 1964
Her lover, too, with long jaws and zooty sideburns.
S. Bellow, Herzog 240 - 2004
Bearded, bereted Americans trying to look like Frenchmen and zooty, gum-chewing Frenchmen trying to look like Americans.
Independent 31 December 27/4
the world textiles and clothing clothing types or styles of clothing [adjectives] fine, elegant, or smart- quaintc1330–1691Of dress: fine, fashionable, elegant. Obsolete.
- nice1395–1771Of dress: extravagant, showy, ostentatious. Also in extended use. Obsolete.
- merryc1400–50Of an article of clothing, an ornament, etc.: fine, handsome, brightly coloured. Obsolete.
- featc1430–Of dress, etc.: Becoming, well fitting, neat, elegant. Hence of the wearer: Neatly attired.
- elegant?c1500–Of a person: that dresses with tasteful beauty or sophistication; displaying elegance in dress. Sometimes in negative sense: foppish (cf. piss-elegant…
- mannerly1523–Of a fabric, an item of clothing, etc.: neat, respectable, clean. Now also (chiefly regional): fashionable, smart.
- fine1526–Of dress: elaborate; showy; smart. Hence of a person: smartly or showily dressed (now chiefly in historical contexts).
- neat1566–Of clothing: handsome, fine; (now) spec. unadornedly smart; trim, elegant.
- trim1675Neatly or smartly made, prepared, or arranged; elegantly or finely arrayed, dressed, or ‘got up’… Of things: chiefly in sense ‘neat, properly made…
- smart1704–Of an item of clothing, etc.: attractively neat and stylish; relatively formal.
- dressy1785–Of a garment or accessory: stylish, smart; suitable for a formal occasion. Also in extended use.
- natty1794–Of a thing, esp. an item of clothing: neatly smart; trim, fashionable; cleverly designed or made.
- good1809–spec. Originally Scottish. Of clothes: smart and suitable formal wear. Also of a room, furnishing, or household article: of superior quality and…
- dossy1889–Stylish, smart.
- dicty1932–High-class, fancy; elegant, stylish.
- whip-smart1937–Neat and trim; impeccably tailored, stylish. Now somewhat rare.
- zooty1943–Fashionably or stylishly dressed; smart, stylish, ‘cool’.
- sharp1944–As a general term of approbation. Originally U.S. slang. Of clothes: stylish, fashionable, smart, ‘snappy’. Hence of the wearer: well-dressed…
- preppy1963–Of clothes, appearance, etc.: typical of or associated with students at (prestigious) prep schools; neat, classic, smart.
- sharp-sharp2014–Of clothes, appearance, etc.: stylish, fashionable, smart. Also as a general term of approval: excellent, fantastic, great. Cf. sharp, adj. A.7.
Pronunciation
British English
U.S. English
Consonants
- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- ɬrhingyll
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence
Vowels
- iːfleece
- ihappy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- atrap, bath
- ɑːstart, palm, bath
- ɒlot
- ɔːthought, force
- ʌstrut
- ʊfoot
- uːgoose
- əletter
- əːnurse
- ɪənear
- ɛːsquare
- ʊəcure
- eɪface
- ʌɪpride
- aʊmouth
- əʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ãgratin
- ɒ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
View the pronunciation model here.
Consonants
- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye*
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing
* /d/ also represents a 'tapped' /t/ as in
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence
Vowels
- ifleece, happy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- ætrap, bath
- ɑlot, palm, cloth, thought
- ɑrstart
- ɔcloth, thought
- ɔrnorth, force
- ʊfoot
- ugoose
- əstrut, comma
- ərnurse, letter
- ɪ(ə)rnear
- ɛ(ə)rsquare
- ʊ(ə)rcure
- eɪface
- aɪpride
- aʊmouth
- oʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ɑ̃gratin
- æ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
View the pronunciation model here.
Simple text respell breaks words into syllables, separated by a hyphen. The syllable which carries the primary stress is written in capital letters. This key covers both British and U.S. English Simple Text Respell.
Consonants
b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w and z have their standard English values
- gguy
- jjay
- yyore
- chchore
- khloch
- shshore
- ththaw
- dhthee
- zhbeige
Vowels
- atrap
- ahpalm
- airsquare
- arstart
- arrcarry (British only)
- awthought
- ayface
- a(ng)gratin
- edress
- eefleece
- eerdeer
- errmerry
- ikit
- ighpride
- irrmirror
- olot (British only)
- ohgoat
- oogoose
- oorcure
- orforce
- orrsorry (British only)
- owmouth
- oyvoice
- o(ng)salon
- ustrut
- uhletter
- urnurse
- urrhurry
- uufoot
Forms
Variant forms
- 1900s–zootie, zooty
Frequency
zooty typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zooty is in frequency band 1, which contains words occurring fewer than 0.001 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands
Frequency of zooty, adj., 1940–2010
* Occurrences per million words in written English
Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on the Google Books corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010.
The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.
For sets of homographs (distinct entries that share the same word-form, e.g. mole, n.¹, mole, n.², mole, n.³, etc.), we have estimated the frequency of each homograph entry as a fraction of the total Ngrams frequency for the word-form. This may result in inaccuracies.
Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the Google Books corpus.
| Decade | Frequency per million words |
|---|---|
| 1940 | 0.0006 |
| 1950 | 0.0006 |
| 1960 | 0.0006 |
| 1970 | 0.0006 |
| 1980 | 0.0006 |
| 1990 | 0.0005 |
| 2000 | 0.0006 |
| 2010 | 0.0005 |