airy

comparative airier · superlative airiest

1. Consisting of air.

   an airy substance; the airy parts of bodies

   Synonyms: aereous

2. Relating or belonging to air; high in air; aerial.

   an airy flight

3. Open to a free current of air; exposed to the air; breezy.

   an airy situation

   1 more example

   It was a good solid house, fanless but airy.

   1958, Anthony Burgess, The Enemy in the Blanket (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 255

4. Resembling air; thin; unsubstantial; not material; airlike.

   Neither diamond-hardness nor airy intangibility can save you from this, the searing agony of death!

   1977 July 10, Jim Shooter, “Beware the Ant-Man!”, in Avengers, volume 1, number 161, panel 5, Marvel Comics, page 14

   Synonyms: aereous

5. Relating to the spirit or soul; delicate; graceful.

   airy music

   Synonyms: ethereal

6. Not based on reality; having no solid foundation

   One critic [Madeleine Schwartz] recently noted that the politics of Rooney’s novels were largely “gestural,” with airy mentions of Gaza or austerity protests but not much radical substance.

   2019 April 12, Annalisa Quinn, “The Small Rebellions of Sally Rooney’s Normal People”, in The Atlantic

   1 more example

   Ah me, ah me! No other ghost has haunted the boy’s room, my friends, since I have occupied it, than the ghost of my own childhood, the ghost of my own innocence, the ghost of my own airy belief.

   1859 December 13, Charles Dickens, “The Ghost in Master B’s Room”, in Charles Dickens, editor, The Haunted House. The Extra Christmas Number of All the Year Round […], volume II, London: […] C[harles] Whiting, […], →OCLC, page 30

   Synonyms: empty, trifling, visionary, empty, trifling, visionary

7. Light-hearted; vivacious

   Synonyms: sprightly, flippant, superficial, flippant

8. Having an affected manner; being in the habit of putting on airs; affectedly grand.
9. paintingHaving the light and aerial tints true to nature.
10. Spacious, well lit, well ventilated.

    The station has a bright and airy feel and the refurbishment works have provided a modern and inviting station environment for passengers.

    2020 December 2, Andy Coward, “New-look Reading is willing and able”, in Rail, page 59

1. A surname.