Meanings
plural DIYs
- abbreviationinitialismuncountableusuallyInitialism of do it yourself.
According to market research, many men list DIY as one of their main hobbies.
1990, David Cohen, Being a ManAntonyms: DIFM
present singular third person DIYs · participle present DIYing · participle present DIY-ing · participle past DIYed · past DIYed
- To perform oneself a task usually relegated to an expert.
Ukrainian civilians have been DIY-ing hedgehogs, welding two bars or beams at an angle to make a cross and then adding a third to ensure it holds its shape even if it's knocked over.
2022 March 21, Bill Chappell, “SWIFT, hedgehog, MiG: Here's a guide to the terms of war in Ukraine”, in SPECIAL SERIES: Ukraine invasion — explained, NPR, retrieved 21 Mar 20221 more example
2007 [publication date], Maggie Bullock, "Home Improvement", Elle, January 2008 ed., page 108, Huber was a physicist. Even top Estée Lauder chemists who took over for Huber in 1995 found that... any attempt to cheat on his original formula produced disappointing results, which demands the question: If they couldn't DIY, can you?
comparative more DIY · superlative most DIY
- Do-it-yourself.
Do you know where I could find a DIY pipe repair kit?
3 more examples
The product knowledge of salespeople is very high, which enables them to serve the demanding customer groups such as professional painters and builders, in addition to the usual DIY consumers.
2008, Sami Finne, Hanna Sivonen, chapter 4, in The Retail Value Chain: How to Gain Competitive Advantage through Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) Strategies, page 154That is more DIY, more punk, anyway.
2016, Michael Croland, Oy Oy Oy Gevalt! Jews and Punk: Jews and PunkA temple abbot who used a DIY guillotine to behead himself in hope of attaining enlightenment might have misinterpreted some things along the way, Thailand’s religious authorities said yesterday.
2021 April 19, “Thai monk who beheaded himself with guillotine to reach nirvana may have been misguided: Buddhist authority”, in Coconuts Bangkok, Bangkok: Coconuts, retrieved 20 Apr 2021
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
Initialism of do it yourself.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin DIY
- DIYdo it yourself
Danish gør-det-selv
- gør-det-selvof or pertaining to do it yourself
Dutch doe-het-zelf
- doe-het-zelfof or pertaining to do it yourself
Esperanto memfari, fari ĝin mem
- memfariTranslations
- fari ĝin memTranslations
Estonian tee-ise
- tee-iseof or pertaining to do it yourself
Finnish TSI, tehdä itse (jotain)
- TSIdo it yourself
- tehdä itse (jotain)Translations
- tee-se-itseof or pertaining to do it yourself
French DIY, bricoler
- DIYdo it yourself
- bricolerTranslations
German DIY, selber machen
- DIYdo it yourself
- selber machenTranslations
- selbst machenTranslations
Hungarian barkácsol, fúr-farag
- barkácsolTranslations
- fúr-faragTranslations
- barkács-of or pertaining to do it yourself
Italian DIY, fai da te
- DIYdo it yourself
- fai da teof or pertaining to do it yourself
Polish majsterkować, pomajsterkować
- majsterkowaćTranslations
- pomajsterkowaćTranslations
Russian смастери́ть, своими руками
- смастери́ть (smasterítʹ)Translations
- своими руками (svoimi rukami)of or pertaining to do it yourself
Spanish hacerlo sí mismo, bricolar
- hacerlo sí mismoTranslations
- bricolarTranslations
- bricoladoof or pertaining to do it yourself
- hecho sí mismoof or pertaining to do it yourself
Swedish gör-det-själv-
- gör-det-själv-of or pertaining to do it yourself
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with DIY
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
DIY. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/DIY
“DIY.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/DIY. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “DIY,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/DIY.
Source: DIY on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.