zizzyadjective
Factsheet
What does the adjective zizzy mean?
There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the adjective zizzy. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.
This word is used in British English.
How common is the adjective zizzy?
| 1900 | 0.0002 |
| 1910 | 0.0003 |
| 1920 | 0.0003 |
| 1930 | 0.0002 |
| 1940 | 0.0002 |
| 1950 | 0.0003 |
| 1960 | 0.0003 |
| 1970 | 0.0003 |
| 1980 | 0.0002 |
| 1990 | 0.0003 |
| 2000 | 0.0003 |
| 2010 | 0.0003 |
How is the adjective zizzy pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the adjective zizzy come from?
Earliest known use
1840s
The earliest known use of the adjective zizzy is in the 1840s.
OED's earliest evidence for zizzy is from 1843, in the writing of ‘Robert Carlton’ (real name Baynard Rush Hall).
zizzy is formed within English, by derivation.
Etymons: zizz int., zizz n., ‑y suffix1.
Nearby entries
- Ziv, n.a1382–
- zizania, n.1526–
- zizany, n.a1400–1803
- zizel, n.1775–
- zizypha, n.1546–1775
- zizyphus, n.?1440–
- zizz, v.1883–
- zizz, int. & n.1824–
- zizzing, n.1884–
- zizzing, adj.1919–
- zizzy, adj.1843–
- Zlid, n.1616–1785
- Z'life, n.1689
- Z line, n.1916–
- Z-list, n. & adj.1979–
- Z-lister, n.1999–
- zloty, n.1915–
- Zn, n.1814–
- -zoa, comb. form
- -zoan, comb. form
- zoantharian, adj. & n.1887–
Etymology
Meaning & use
- 1.1843–Characterized by or involving a buzzing or whizzing sound. Now rare.In quot. 1843 in figurative context.
- 1843
Conversation, where one is ardent and the other cold, becomes sissee or zizzy:—a dialogue between cold water and hot iron.
‘R. Carlton’, New Purchase vol. II. lx. 269 - 1903
The zippy, zoomy, zizzy note he [sc. a mosquito] sings as swift as he flies.
Newark (Ohio) Daily Advocate 22 July 7/4 - 1964
That open, slightly ‘zizzy’ sound of a wide-range, high fidelity unit.
Radio, Television & Hobbies (Australia) October 83/2
the world physical sensation hearing and noise degree, kind, or quality of sound continuous or protracted sound sibilant sound [adjectives] buzz (of sounds) making buzzing soundthe world physical sensation hearing and noise degree, kind, or quality of sound continuous or protracted sound sibilant sound [adjectives] buzz (of sounds)- bumbling1556–Designating a low humming, rumbling, or buzzing noise, like that of an insect.
- buzzing1635–Said of sounds.
- bombinating1847–That hums or buzzes. Also figurative.
- zizzy1903–Characterized by or involving a buzzing or whizzing sound. Now rare.
- tizzy1987–Of a sound: high-pitched and buzzing or distorted.
- 2.1966–Vibrant, lively, energetic. Cf. zizz n. B.2. Now chiefly British.
- 1966
And who's going to pay for ‘Danger Man’ with that zizzy Patrick McGoohan, then?
Guardian 5 February 7/6 - 1976
My wife said I should wear a dark suit but I did risk a particularly zizzy tie.
Times 4 October 7 - 1995
A question..of London being a lot more zizzy than Paris.
Independent 20 May 29
- gay?c1225–Bright or lively-looking, esp. in colour; brilliant, showy. Now dated.
- jollyc1380–1692Bright or colourful in appearance; brilliant, showy, splendid. Obsolete.
- gallant1440–Of pleasing appearance; attractive, elegant, stylish; sumptuous, splendid. Frequently with reference to clothing. Chiefly archaic after 18th cent.
- show-worthy1542–(Originally) deserving of display; fine or splendid in appearance; (later) of sufficient quality to be in a show, exhibition, etc.
- gaud-glorious1555Very showy.
- brave1568–Finely-dressed; = Sc. braw, adj. & n.; splendid, showy, grand, fine, handsome. (Rare in 18th cent.; in 19th cent. apparently a literary revival…
- of show1580–of show: (as postmodifying phrase) suited for display; fine, splendid; (sometimes) spec. suited for display rather than use; merely decorative.
- gaudy1583–Brilliantly fine or colourful, highly ornate, showy. Now chiefly in disparaging sense: Excessively or glaringly showy, tastelessly fine or colourful.
- braving1600–49Showy, resplendent; high-sounding, stately.
- cavalier1670Of things: Fine, ‘brave’, ‘gallant’. Obsolete.
- showish1675–Striking or impressive in appearance; ostentatious; (also) displayed or performed for show; = showy, adj. 1.
- showy1712–Striking or impressive in appearance. Later esp.: visually striking in an ostentatious or pretentious way, esp. in being excessively bright, large…
- braw1724–= brave, adj. A.2; finely-dressed; splendid, showy.
- gingerbread-like1764–a. (Of architecture, decoration, etc.) that is suggestive of the elaborate, often gaudy decoration associated with gingerbread; b. that resembles…
- gingerbread-gilt1769–1890Reminiscent of or resembling the gilt decoration on gingerbread; excessively or ostentatiously decorated; showy, fancy.
- branky1790–Showy, gaudy.
- viewy1850–Originally slang. Pleasant or attractive in appearance; showy.
- cheesy1858–64Ostentatious or showy.
- cheesy1863–colloquial. Inferior, second-rate; bad, nasty. Now somewhat rare.
- jazzified1920–That has been made to resemble jazz; that has been made jazzy (in various senses). Cf. jazzify, v.
- jazzed1922–In extended use. Frequently with up. Of a thing: enlivened; made more interesting, exciting, or vibrant.
- zizzy1966–Vibrant, lively, energetic. Cf. zizz, n. B.2. Now chiefly British.
society authority lack of subjection freedom or liberty freedom of action or from restraint [adjectives] in action, conduct, or habit- freec1300–Acting without restriction or limitation; showing a lack of moderation in doing something.
- unbridledc1374–figurative. Not restrained or held in check; absolutely uncontrolled or ungoverned. Of conduct, feeling, utterance, etc.
- riotous?1456–Noisy, tumultuous; unrestrained.
- liberala1500–1874Free from restraint; speaking or acting freely; (in negative sense) unrestrained by prudence or decorum. Obsolete.
- unrestrained1531–Not subjected (or subject) to restraint, esp. in respect of action or conduct; uninhibited; spontaneous, natural.
- libertine1593–Free or unrestrained in disposition, behaviour, or language.
- relaxed1623–Of a person: free from restraint or restriction; not strict or precise, esp. in observing a religious rule.
- long-waisted1647–56figurative. Lax or casual in respect of principles or conduct; easy, loose. Obsolete.
- self-abandoning1817–Involving or characterized by self-abandonment; self-abandoned.
- laissez-aller1818–Absence of restraint; unconstrained ease and freedom.
- self-abandoned1833–Involving or characterized by a lack of inhibition or restraint; (also) given up or devoted to an influence, passion, etc.
- uninhibited1880–Not inhibited; unrestrained.
- un-Victorian1908–Not characteristic of the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901); contrary to or not having the attitudes and values attributed to this time, esp…
- leggo1943–slang (originally Jamaican). Out of control, wild. Chiefly in leggo beast (also lagobis) (derogatory): an animal that has got loose or gone wild…
- zizzy1966–Vibrant, lively, energetic. Cf. zizz, n. B.2. Now chiefly British.
- loose1968–Of persons, etc.: relaxed or easy, calm; uninhibited. Esp. predic. (quasi-adv.) in to hang (or stay) loose. slang (originally U.S.).
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
Frequency
zizzy typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zizzy 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 zizzy, adj., 1900–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1900 | 0.0002 |
| 1910 | 0.0003 |
| 1920 | 0.0003 |
| 1930 | 0.0002 |
| 1940 | 0.0002 |
| 1950 | 0.0003 |
| 1960 | 0.0003 |
| 1970 | 0.0003 |
| 1980 | 0.0002 |
| 1990 | 0.0003 |
| 2000 | 0.0003 |
| 2010 | 0.0003 |