Meanings
comparative more helicoptery · superlative most helicoptery
- informalLike a helicopter parent; paying inordinate amounts of attention to one's children.
How did she deflect back to swimming again? She grins. “Don't look so upset. I can watch you. I'll be your cheering section!” Asciugamano! That's all I need. Mom has been much less helicoptery[…]
2017 October 10, Kathryn Erskine, The Incredible Magic of Being: The Incredible Magic of Being, Scholastic Inc., →ISBN2 more examples
We, food allergy mama bears, might seem a little cliquey, a little “helicoptery” for your liking and preference, a little neurotic to you who have less to worry about or even consider. You might find my attitudes at your child's[…]
2017 April 20, Mireille Schwartz, When Your Child Has Food Allergies: A Parent's Guide to Managing It All - From the Everyday to the Extreme, AMACOM, →ISBNShe knew for a fact that he'd never had a girlfriend, thanks to his Black Hawk helicoptery mom, and yet right then he was the one who was completely at ease and she was all bunched up like an anxiety-ridden accordion.
2020 July 21, Sandhya Menon, 10 Things I Hate about Pinky, Simon Pulse, →ISBN, page 89
Origin
From helicopter parent; from helicopter + -y.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
helicoptery. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/helicoptery
“helicoptery.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/helicoptery. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “helicoptery,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/helicoptery.
Source: helicoptery on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.