gally

G2A1L1L1Y4

adjective

Characterised by or resembling gall; bitter.

Similar
girlie
OriginMiddle English gally ← Old English gealliġ →
UncommonScrabble 9
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Meanings

gally1

noungally (plural gallies)

plural gallies

  1. archaicArchaic form of galley.

    In the Year 1746, an Indian of Buenos Ayres having been condemned to the Gallies at Cadiz, proposed to the Governor to purchase his Liberty by exposing his Life at a public Festival.

    1761, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, A discourse upon the origin and foundation of the inequality among mankind, page 200

gally2

adjectivegally (comparative more gally, superlative most gally)

comparative more gally · superlative most gally

  1. Characterised by or resembling gall; bitter.

    For by the Dart, which is likewise a pipe, is made a deep passage into the skin, and then by the anger of the Fly, is his gally poisonous liquor injected […].

    1665, Robert Hooke, Micrographia, section XXV

gally3

verbgally (third-person singular simple present gallies, present participle gallying, simple past and past participle gallied)

present singular third person gallies · participle present gallying · participle past gallied · past gallied

  1. UKdialectalTo frighten, spook; to appall; to worry.

    April 8 1700, Tom Brown, letter to Mr. Briscoe in Covent-Garden The next Day being Sunday, call'd by the Natives of this Country Maze Sunday, (and indeed not without some Reason, for the People look'd as if they were gallied) […]

gally4

noungally (plural not attested)
  1. diminutiveno pluralDiminutive of gal (“girl”).

    Synonyms: girlie

Synonyms & antonyms

Origin

gally · adjective

  1. Old Englishgealliġ“sour, sharp, bitter, sad”
  2. Middle Englishgally
  3. Englishgally

From Middle English gally, from Old English gealliġ (“sour, sharp, bitter, sad”), equivalent to gall + -y.

More words from Middle English, Old English

Full word history & related roots →

gally · verb

See gallow (transitive verb).

Full word history & related roots →

gally · noun

From gal + -y.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

gally. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gally

MLA

“gally.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gally. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gally,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gally.

Source: gally on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.