airy

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: Air=y

CIDE DICTIONARY

airy, a. 

•  Consisting of air; as, an airy substance; the airy parts of bodies.  [1913 Webster]
•  Relating or belonging to air; high in air; aërial; as, an airy flight.  Milton.  [1913 Webster]
•  Open to a free current of air; exposed to the air; breezy; as, an airy situation.  [1913 Webster]
•  Resembling air; thin; unsubstantial; not material; airlike.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]
•  Relating to the spirit or soul; delicate; graceful; as, airy music.  [1913 Webster]
•  Without reality; having no solid foundation; empty; trifling; visionary.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

  "Empty sound, and airy notions."  [1913 Webster]
•  Light of heart; vivacious; sprightly; flippant; superficial.  Jer. Taylor.  [1913 Webster]
•  Having an affected manner; being in the habit of putting on airs; affectedly grand.  [1913 Webster]
•  Having the light and aërial tints true to nature.  Elmes.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

airy, adj. (airier, airiest)
1 well-ventilated, breezy.
2 flippant, superficial.
3 a light as air. b graceful, delicate.
4 insubstantial, ethereal, immaterial.

Idiom

airy-fairy colloq. unrealistic, impractical, foolishly idealistic.

Derivative

airily adv. airiness n.

THESAURUS

airy

Barmecidal, Barmecide, Olympian, adulterated, aeolian, aerial, aeriform, aerodynamic, aerostatic, aery, air-built, airish, airlike, airy, alfresco, altitudinous, animated, apparent, apparitional, ascending, asinine, asomatous, aspiring, astral, atmospheric, attenuate, attenuated, autistic, blasty, blowy, blustering, blusterous, blustery, bodiless, boreal, bouncy, boyish, breezy, brisk, bubbly, buoyant, carefree, careless, casual, catchpenny, chimeric, chimerical, cloud-built, colossal, corky, cursory, cut, dainty, debonair, decarnate, decarnated, deceptive, degage, delicate, delusional, delusionary, delusive, delusory, dereistic, diaphanous, dilute, diluted, discarnate, disembodied, disregardant, disregardful, dominating, downy, drafty, dreamlike, dreamy, easygoing, effervescent, elevated, eminent, empty, erroneous, ethereal, exalted, expansive, exposed, exquisite, extramundane, fallacious, false, fanciful, fantastic, fatuitous, fatuous, favonian, feathery, fine, fine-drawn, finespun, flawy, flimsy, flippant, fluffy, foamy, foolish, forgetful, frail, free and easy, fresh, fribble, fribbling, frivolous, frothy, fuming, fumy, futile, gaseous, gasified, gasiform, gaslike, gassy, gauzy, ghostly, girlish, gossamer, gossamery, gracile, gusty, haughty, heedless, high, high-pitched, high-reaching, high-set, high-spirited, high-up, idealistic, idle, illusional, illusionary, illusive, illusory, imaginary, immaterial, impalpable, imponderable, imponderous, impractical, in the clouds, inane, inconsiderate, incorporate, incorporeal, indifferent, insouciant, insubstantial, intangible, jaunty, lacy, lazy, leger, light, light as air, lighter than vanity, lighthearted, lightsome, lofty, mephitic, miasmal, miasmatic, miasmic, misleading, misty, monumental, mounting, mousse, nonmaterial, nonphysical, nugacious, nugatory, oblivious, occult, offhand, open-air, ostensible, otherworldly, otiose, outtopping, overlooking, overtopping, oxyacetylene, oxygenous, ozonic, papery, perfunctory, perky, phantasmagoric, phantasmal, phantom, phantomlike, pneumatic, poetic, prominent, psychic, puffy, quixotic, rare, rarefied, reckless, reeking, reeky, regardless, resilient, respectless, romancing, romantic, romanticized, roomy, seeming, self-deceptive, self-deluding, shadowy, shallow, silly, skyscraping, slender, slenderish, slight, slight-made, slim, slimmish, slinky, small, smoking, smoky, soaring, souffle, specious, spectral, spiring, spirited, spiritual, spirituous, squally, starry-eyed, steaming, steamy, steep, storybook, sublime, subtile, subtle, superficial, superlative, supernal, supernatural, supposititious, svelte, sylphlike, tactless, tenuous, thin, thin-bodied, thin-set, thin-spun, thinned, thinned-out, thinnish, thoughtless, threadlike, topless, toplofty, topping, towering, towery, transcendental, transmundane, trifling, trite, trivial, tropospheric, unactual, uncompact, uncompressed, undiplomatic, unearthly, unembodied, unextended, unfleshly, unfounded, unheavy, unheedful, unheeding, unmindful, unphysical, unpractical, unprepared, unready, unreal, unrealistic, unsolicitous, unsubstantial, untactful, unthinking, unworldly, uplifted, upreared, vacuous, vague, vain, vapid, vaporing, vaporish, vaporlike, vaporous, vapory, visionary, volatile, wasp-waisted, watered, watered-down, watery, weak, weightless, willowy, windswept, windy, wiredrawn, wish-fulfilling, wispy, yeasty

ROGET THESAURUS

airy

Unsubstantiality

N unsubstantiality, insubstantiality, nothingness, nihility, no degree, no part, no quantity, no thing, nothing, naught, nil, nullity, zero, cipher, no one, nobody, never a one, ne'er a one, no such thing, none in the world, nothing whatever, nothing at all, nothing on earth, not a particle, all talk, moonshine, stuff and nonsense, matter of no importance, matter of no consequence, thing of naught, man of straw, John Doe and Richard Roe, faggot voter, nominis umbra, nonentity, flash in the pan, vox et praeterea nihil, shadow, phantom, dream, ignis fatuus, such stuff as dreams are made of, air, thin air, vapor, bubble, baseless fabric of a vision, mockery, hollowness, blank, void, inanity, fool's paradise, unsubstantial, baseless, groundless, ungrounded, without foundation, having no foundation, visionary, immaterial, spectral, dreamy, shadowy, ethereal, airy, cloud built, cloud formed, gossamery, illusory, insubstantial, unreal, vacant, vacuous, empty, eviscerated, blank, hollow, nominal, null, inane, there's nothing in it, an ocean of dreams without a sound.

Unimportance

N unimportance, insignificance, nothingness, immateriality, triviality, levity, frivolity, paltriness, poverty, smallness, vanity, matter of indifference, no object, nothing, nothing to signify, nothing worth speaking of, nothing particular, nothing to boast of, nothing to speak of, small matter, no great matter, trifling matter, mere joke, mere nothing, hardly anything, scarcely anything, nonentity, small beer, cipher, no great shakes, peu de chose, child's play, kinderspiel, toy, plaything, popgun, paper pellet, gimcrack, gewgaw, bauble, trinket, bagatelle, Rickshaw, knickknack, whim-wham, trifle, trifles light as air, yankee notions, trumpery, trash, rubbish, stuff, fatras, frippery, leather or prunello, chaff, drug, froth bubble smoke, cobweb, weed, refuse, scum, joke, jest, snap of the fingers, fudge, fiddlestick, fiddlestick end, pack of nonsense, mere farce, straw, pin, fig, button, rush, bulrush, feather, halfpenny, farthing, brass farthing, doit, peppercorn, jot, rap, pinch of snuff, old son, cent, mill, picayune, pistareen, red cent, minutiae, details, minor details, small fry, dust in the balance, feather in the scale, drop in the ocean, flea-bite, molehill, nine days' wonder, ridiculus mus, flash in the pan, much ado about nothing, unimportant, of little account, of small account, of no account, of little importance, of no importance, immaterial, unessential, nonessential, indifferent, subordinate, mediocre, passable, fair, respectable, tolerable, commonplace, uneventful, mere, common, ordinary, inconsiderable, so-so, insignificant, inappreciable, trifling, trivial, slight, slender, light, flimsy, frothy, idle, puerile, airy, shallow, weak, powerless, frivolous, petty, niggling, piddling, peddling, fribble, inane, ridiculous, farcical, finical, finikin, fiddle-faddle, fingle-fangle, namby-pamby, wishy-washy, milk and water, poor, paltry, pitiful, contemptible, sorry, mean, meager, shabby, miserable, wretched, vile, scrubby, scrannel, weedy, niggardly, scurvy, putid, beggarly, worthless, twopennyhalfpenny, cheap, trashy, catchpenny, gimcrack, trumpery, one- horse, not worth the pains, not worth while, not worth mentioning, not worth speaking of, not worth a thought, not worth a curse, not worth a straw, beneath notice, unworthy of notice, beneath regard, unworthy of regard, beneath consideration, unworthy of consideration, de lana caprina, vain, slightly, rather, somewhat, pretty well, tolerably, for aught one cares, Int, no matter!, pish!, tush!, tut!, pshaw!, pugh!, pooh, pooh-pooh!, fudge!, bosh!, humbug!, fiddlestick, fiddlestick end!, fiddlededee!, never mind!, n'importe!, what signifies it, what boots it, what of it, what of that, what matter, what's the odds, a fig for', stuff!, nonsense!, stuff and nonsense, magno conatu magnas nugas, le jeu ne vaut pas la chandelle, it matters not, it does not signify, it is of no consequence, it is of no importance, elephantus non capit murem, tempete dans un verre d'eau.

Cheerfulness

N cheerfulness, geniality, gayety, l'allegro, cheer, good humor, spirits, high spirits, animal spirits, flow of spirits, glee, high glee, light heart, sunshine of the mind, sunshine of the breast, gaiete de coeur, bon naturel, liveliness, life, alacrity, vivacity, animation, allegresse, jocundity, joviality, jollity, levity, jocularity, mirth, merriment, hilarity, exhilaration, laughter, merrymaking, heyday, rejoicing, marriage bell, nepenthe, Euphrosyne, sweet forgetfulness, optimism, self complacency, hedonics, hedonism, cheerful, happy, cheery, cheerly, of good cheer, smiling, blithe, in spirits, in good spirits, breezy, bully, chipper, in high spirits, in high feather, happy as the day is long, happy as a king, gay as a lark, allegro, debonair, light, lightsome, light hearted, buoyant, debonnaire, bright, free and easy, airy, janty, jaunty, canty, hedonic, riant, sprightly, sprightful, spry, spirited, spiritful, lively, animated, vivacious, brisk as a bee, sparkling, sportive, full of play, full of spirit, all alive, sunny, palmy, hopeful, merry as a cricket, merry as a grig, merry as a marriage bell, joyful, joyous, jocund, jovial, jolly as a thrush, jolly as a sandboy, blithesome, gleeful, gleesome, hilarious, rattling, winsome, bonny, hearty, buxom, playful, playsome, folatre, playful as a kitten, tricksy, frisky, frolicsome, gamesome, jocose, jocular, waggish, mirth loving, laughter-loving, mirthful, rollicking, elate, elated, exulting, jubilant, flushed, rejoicing, cock-a-hoop, cheering, inspiriting, exhilarating, cardiac, cardiacal, pleasing, palmy, cheerfully, Int, never say die!, come!, cheer up!, hurrah!, hence loathed melancholy!, begone dull care!, away with melancholy!, a merry heart goes all the day, as merry as the day is long, ride si sapis.

Levity

N levity, lightness, imponderability, buoyancy, volatility, feather, dust, mote, down, thistle, down, flue, cobweb, gossamer, straw, cork, bubble, balloon, float, buoy, ether, air, leaven, ferment, barm, yeast, lighter-than-air balloon, helium balloon, hydrogen balloon, hot air balloon, convection, thermal draft, thermal, light, subtile, airy, imponderous, imponderable, astatic, weightless, ethereal, sublimated, gossamery, suberose, suberous, uncompressed, volatile, buoyant, floating, portable, light as a feather, light as a thistle, light as air, lighter than air, rise like a balloon, float like a balloon.

Gaseity

N gaseity, vaporousness, flatulence, flatulency, volatility, aeration, aerification, elastic fluid, gas, air, vapor, ether, steam, essence, fume, reek, effluvium, flatus, cloud, ammonia, ammoniacal gas, volatile alkali, vacuum, partial vacuum, pneumatics, pneumatostatics, aerostatics, aerodynamics, gasmeter, gasometer, air bladder, swimming bladder, sound, (of a fish), gaseous, aeriform, ethereal, aerial, airy, vaporous, volatile, evaporable, flatulent.

Air

N air, common air, atmospheric air, atmosphere, aerosphere, open air, sky, welkin, blue sky, cloud, weather, climate, rise and fall of the barometer, isobar, aerology, aerometry, aeroscopy, aeroscopy, aerography, meteorology, climatology, pneumatics, eudioscope, baroscope, aeroscope, eudiometer, barometer, aerometer, aneroid, baroscope, weather gauge, weather glass, weather cock, exposure to the air, exposure to the weather, ventilation, aerostation, aeronautics, aeronaut, containing air, flatulent, effervescent, windy, atmospheric, airy, aerial, aeriform, meteorological, weatherwise, in the open air, a la belle etoile, al fresco, sub jove dio.