Meanings
mealy1
comparative mealier · superlative mealiest
- Resembling meal (the foodstuff).
Below the hole the mice made in the woodwork was a pile of mealy sawdust.
- Of the pale yellow color of a canary.
That it is a cross-breed there can be no doubt, from the fact that after a year or two the brilliant colours, both orange and black, begin to fade—the orange fading into a mealy tint, and the black to a dingy grey.
1875, The Bird-Keeper's Guide and Companion, page 19
plural mealies
- A canary of a pale yellow color.
I know not, indeed, if the artist could give the beautiful orange which distinguish ^([sic]) the jonque, or the mellowness of tint that pervades the mealy.
1800, The New and Complete Canary-bird Fancier, page 81 more example
The clear Norwich canaries, as well as the evenly marked, the crested, the ticked, the green, and the unevenly marked, are each divided into two separate classes, i.e., jonques and mealies.
1884, Robert Linlithgow Wallace, The Canary Book, page 225
Mealy2
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivecomposed of or covered with particles resembling meal in texture or consistency
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
mealy · adjective, noun
From meal + -y. Cognate with German mehlig.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian брашнян
- брашнян (brašnjan)resembling meal
Czech moučný, moučnatý
- moučnýresembling meal
- moučnatýresembling meal
French farineux
- farineuxresembling meal
German mehlig
- mehligresembling meal
Greek αλευρώδης
- αλευρώδης (alevródis)resembling meal
Māori motuhanga, māngaro
- motuhangaresembling meal
- māngaroresembling meal
Polish mączny, mączysty
- mącznyresembling meal
- mączystyresembling meal
Portuguese farinhento
- farinhentoresembling meal
Romanian făinos
- făinosresembling meal
Spanish harinoso
- harinosoresembling meal
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with mealy
Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
mealy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mealy
“mealy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mealy. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mealy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mealy.
Source: mealy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.