palmy

adjective

ˈpä-mē How to pronounce palmy (audio)
ˈpäl-,
ˈpȯ-,
ˈpȯl- How to pronounce palmy (audio)
palmier; palmiest
1
: marked by prosperity : flourishing
the palmy days of the British dramaOscar Wilde
2
: abounding in or bearing palms

Did you know?

Our language became a smidge more prosperous the day palmy first waved “hello.” As the palm branch has traditionally been used as a symbol of victory, so did the word palm come to mean “victory” or “triumph” in the late 14th century, thanks to the likes of Geoffrey Chaucer. Centuries later, William Shakespeare would employ palmy as a synonym for triumphant or flourishing in the tragedy Hamlet when the character Horatio speaks of the “palmy state of Rome / A little ere the mightiest Julius fell.” That use remains somewhat common, and English speakers have since dug back into palmy’s vegetal roots to develop the also familiar sense of “abounding in or bearing palms,” as in “palmy beaches.”

Examples of palmy in a Sentence

they knew her in her palmy days when she was living high a palmy suburb with lots of new homes and shopping malls
Recent Examples on the Web In palmier times, the leader of the Wagner group, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, appeared at a Russian cultural center in the capital of the Central African Republic, sitting with schoolchildren and promising them free laptops. Elian Peltier Jim Huylebroek, New York Times, 26 Nov. 2023 Painters draw them against tropical, palmy backgrounds. Terrence McCoy, Washington Post, 23 Nov. 2023 In the century that followed, Carter’s house was turned into a museum with a green, palmy garden, thanks to water brought in from the Nile. Vivian Yee, BostonGlobe.com, 12 Nov. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'palmy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1604, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of palmy was in 1604

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Dictionary Entries Near palmy

Cite this Entry

“Palmy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/palmy. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

palmy

adjective
palmier; palmiest
1
: having palms
a palmy beach
2
: marked by success : prosperous
a palmy community
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