dandy

plural dandies

1. A man very concerned about his physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance in a cult of self.

   “Gerald Croft is an attractive chap about thirty, rather too manly to be a dandy but very much the easy well-bred young man-about-town.”

   1945, J. B. Priestley, chapter I, in An Inspector Calls

   2 more examples

   The gallant young Indian dandy at home on furlough — immense dandies these — chained and moustached — driving in tearing cabs, the pillars of the theatres, living at West End Hotels, — […]

   1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 60, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC

   No town-bred dandy will compare with a country-bred one—I mean a downright bumpkin dandy–a fellow that, in the dog-days, will mow his two acres in buckskin gloves for fear of tanning his hands.

   1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter VI, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 68

2. Something excellent in its class.
3. UKnauticalA yawl, or a small after-sail on a yawl.
4. A dandy roller.
5. IrelandUKarchaicslangA small glass of whisky.

   Somebody quite as notorious as Brummell, but whose follies have been far more mischievous; whose eloquence is great, but certainly not always refined; and to whose health many a dandy of whisky has been tossed off.

   1844, William Jesse, The life of George Brummell, page 57

6. historicalrail transportA horse-drawn railway carriage used on some branch lines.

   1 more example

   Other notable instances of horse-drawn vehicles for passenger services were the dandies used on the two-mile branch to Inchture of the Perth-Dundee line of the Caledonian Railway […], and the 2½-mile branch of the North British Railway from Drumburgh to Port Carlisle. […] One of the Port Carlisle dandies was preserved at Waverley Station, Edinburgh, for several years, but is now in the Railway Museum at York.

   1958 February 28, “Notes and News: The Fintona Tram”, in Railway Magazine, pages 139-140

comparative dandier · superlative dandiest

1. Like a dandy, foppish.

   Synonyms: beauish, buckish, coxcombical, dandiacal, dandified, dandyish, dandyistic, dudish

2. Very good; better than expected but not as good as could be.

   That's all fine and dandy, but how much does it cost?

   Synonyms: all very well, well and good

3. Excellent; first-rate.

   What a dandy little laptop you have.

   3 more examples

   Grip Sures are dandy shoes for anything that comes along. Hiking, climbing, canoeing, around camp or in the gym — you can't have anything better.

   1924, Boys' Life, page 27

   Its gonna be just dandy / The day I take my Candy / And make him mine all mine

   1945, Mack David, Alex C Kramer, Joan Whitney, “Candy”, performed by Nat King Cole

   A perfectly dandy cartoon feature, “The Jungle Book,” scooted into local theaters yesterday just ahead of the big day, and it's ideal for the children.

   1967 December 23, “Disney ‘Jungle Book’ Arrives Just in Time”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

   Synonyms: ace, admirable, amazing, awe-inspiring, awesome, badass, broyal, bang on

plural dandies · alternative dandi · alternative dandie · alternative dandee

1. IndiaA boatman, a rower.First known use 1685

   Our Dandees (or boatmen) boyled their rice.

   1685 January 6, William Hedges, Diary, Vol. I, p. 175

2. IndiaA Shaiva mendicant who carries a small rod.First known use 1832

   ...the Dandis, distinguished by carrying a small dand or wand...

   1862, Henry Beveridge, A Comprehensive History of India..., volume II, page 74

3. IndiaAn open sedan chair formed by suspending a rudimentary frame or strong cloth from a pole or set of poles.First known use 1870

   1870, Constance Frederica Gordon-Cumming, Good Words, p. 135:

   2 more examples

   As the darkness closed in... I had to give up the attempt to use the dandy, and struggle on on foot.

   Major Battye and Captain Urmston joined the rear and placed the wounded man in a dandy.

   1888 July 2, Times, page 5

   Synonyms: andor, jampan

plural Dandys

1. A surname.
2. abbreviationclippinginformalsingularVictoriaClipping of Dandenong.
3. in pluralinformalVictoriaThe Dandenong Ranges.