Meanings
comparative more pursily · superlative most pursily
- In a pursy manner:
- Out of breath, breathlessly.
Mr Kernan hurried forward, blowing pursily.
1922, James Joyce, Ulysses, London: Egoist Press, page 2311 more example
As the General straightened his tall, slight form, his tobacco-lighting accomplished, Duff Green, breathing pursily from a dash of trepidation, could not forbear comment.
1903, Alfred Henry Lewis, chapter 2, in Peggy O’Neal, Philadelphia: Drexel Biddle, page 52 - In a puckered manner.
1939, Ellery Queen, “Long Shot” in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, No. 75, April 1959, British Edition, p. 28, And, the serious business of her Hollywood gossip column concluded, Miss Paris hung up and turned her lips pursily toward Mr. Queen.
2 more examples
She was dressed in a light morning “wrapper,” or robe de chambre, drawn pursily about her waist by a fillet or band, tied in imitation of a rosette in front.
1867, Daniel Crowberry, chapter 12, in North of the Tweed, volume 1, London: T. Cautley Newby, page 153Robert, who had drunk very little, eyed him pursily across the table.
2000, James Fleming, chapter 19, in The Temple of Optimism, New York: Hyperion, page 202
Origin
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
pursily. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pursily
“pursily.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pursily. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pursily,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pursily.
Source: pursily on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.