peely-wally

Scotland/ˈpiliˌwali/UK/ˈpiːliwali/UK/piːliˈwali/

adjective

Pale, pasty; off-color or ill-looking.

First used 19th c.

Meanings

adjectivepeely-wally (not comparable)

alternative peelie wallie

  1. Scotlandnot comparablePale, pasty; off-color or ill-looking.First known use 19th c.

    ‘Are there no English troops out here?’ ‘A few,’ Gilzean said. ‘But they're all sick. Peely-wally lot the English, ye ken.’

    1984, William Boyd, An Ice Cream War
    1 more example

    But I felt that Tommy's championing of the lit de soleil, as it's known in Maryhill, was courageous and condign. It allowed otherwise peely wally Glaswegians to hold their tanned faces aloft in polite company and let their neighbours think they'd been to Santa Ponsa or Majorca.

    2011 July 3, Kevin McKenna, The Guardian

Origin

  1. Scotspeely-wally
  2. Englishpeely-wally

From Scots peely-wally.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

German blass, bleich
  • blasspale, off-color
  • bleichpale, off-color
  • fahlpale, off-color
  • kränklichpale, off-color
Cite this entry
APA

peely-wally. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/peely-wally

MLA

“peely-wally.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/peely-wally. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “peely-wally,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/peely-wally.

Source: peely-wally on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.