dippy

comparative dippier · superlative dippiest

1. informalLacking common sense.

   “He’s dippy,” she informed him. “Absolutely mad. He’ll wreck your ship for you.”

   1957, Neville Shute, chapter 2, in On the Beach, New York: William Morrow

   2 more examples

   If a person were to wash only one side of his face and continually neglect the other side, he would soon become a local curiosity–would be considered dippy.

   1922, “Beautify Gillette”, in The Republican, volume 1, number 22, page 1

   2001, Peter Bradshaw, Review of Legally Blonde, The Guardian, 26 October, 2001, This so-so comedy has Witherspoon as the dippy-yet-smart sorority girl whose ambitious Wasp boyfriend dumps her because she’s a natural blonde, and he’s looking to marry “Jackie not Marilyn”; so she gets a place in his class at Harvard law school to win him back.

   Synonyms: dotty

2. informalHaving romantic feelings for; excited or enthusiastic about.

   “I’ve read in the papers that ye’re dippy about secon’-hand stuff,” she teased, referring to his mania for antiques […]

   1912, Clara E. Laughlin, chapter 4, in The Penny Philanthropist, New York: Fleming H. Revell, page 41

   1 more example

   ‘[…] If you’re dippy about a girl, and another fellow has grabbed her, it can’t be pleasant to sit at a writing table, probably with a rotten pen, sweating away while the other fellow dictates “My own comma precious darling period I worship you comma I adore you period How I wish comma my dearest comma that I could press you to my bosom and cover your lovely face with burning kisses exclamation mark”. […]’

   1949, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 16, in The Mating Season, London: Herbert Jenkins, page 145

3. PennsylvaniaUKWesterninformalOf an egg: cooked so that the yolk remains runny and can be used for dipping.

   The flat was his domain until ten a.m., he informed her brusquely. He liked reading the paper and partaking of a dippy egg in solitude.

   2004, Bernadette Strachan, chapter 20, in The Reluctant Landlady, London: Hodder & Stoughton, page 230

4. informalInvolving or suited to dipping.

   Also, salad dressing makes a great dippy sauce. Avoid low-fat salad dressings, which are usually loaded with fillers, sugar, and sodium.

   2001, Janet Mason Tarlov, The Everything Baby's First Food Book, page 257

5. informalHaving dips (downward and upward slopes).

   "It's not completely flat," Waddicor points out. "It's a bit up and down dippy. The gradients are quite steep compared with traditional lines."

   2025 August 20, Paul Clifton, “A driver's eye view of East West Rail”, in RAIL, number 1042, page 33