tonguey

comparative tonguier · comparative more tonguey · superlative tonguiest · superlative most tonguey · alternative tonguy

1. Tending to talk a lot; fluent or voluble in speech (generally with an unfavourable connotation).

   1608, Philip Woodward, Bels Trial Examined, Doai, Preface, Seeing then he is now so mute, that before was so tonguy […]

   2 more examples

   “You air a tongue-y person, Gen’ral. For you talk too much, and that’s a fact,” said Scadder. “You speak a-larmingly well in public, but you didn’t ought to go ahead so fast in private. Now!”

   1844, Charles Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, London: Chapman and Hall, Chapter , p. 267

   “[…] He had many friends who loved him truly and they tried to persuade him to escape, but by unanswerable arguments he proved to them how wrong they were.” ¶ “Humph!” grunted Sallie. “Tonguey to de last! An’ in de wrong way to de wrong ones.”

   1921, Leila Amos Pendleton, “The Foolish and the Wise: Sallie Runner Is Introduced to Socrates”, in Marcy Jane Knopf-Newman, editor, The Sleeper Wakes: Harlem Renaissance Stories by Women, New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, page 163

   Synonyms: garrulous, loquacious, talkative

2. Using many words; containing grandiloquent expressions; marked by rhetorical elegance (generally with an unfavourable connotation).

   1885, J. H. Battle, Kentucky: A History of the State, Louisville, KY: F.A. Battey, “Biographical Sketches,” p. 839, […] personal abuse and tonguy sarcasm are not elements of success in law practice.

   2 more examples

   “I have listened,” he said, “to the talk that Justice Rowan has given us. It’s very fine and tonguey, but it smothers up the facts. […]”

   1896, F. Hopkinson Smith, Tom Grogan, New York: Grosset & Dunlap, Chapter , p. 186

   those points especially warming to tonguey gossip—the neighboring tavern and country-store

   1916, Kate Stephens, “Our Country Newspaper: The Genesis of Its Spirit”, in Workfellows in Social Progression, New York: Sturgis & Walton, page 45

   Synonyms: bombastic, flowery, verbose

3. Manifested by fluent or voluble speech.

   […] even his tonguey confidence and ingenuousness could glean but little satisfaction from his interviews with the rheumatic and unbelieving old woman.

   1887, Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman, “The Bar Light-House”, in A Humble Romance, and Other Stories, New York: Harper & Brothers, page 182

4. Involving the tongue.

   They take each other’s hands and kiss goodbye, a longish tonguey kiss […]

   1988, Hanif Kureishi, Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, London: Faber and Faber, page 8

   1 more example

   Wully seated himself upon the corner of the kitchen table, from beneath which appeared a dog’s welcoming nose accompanied by a tonguey, tooth-trimmed grin.

   1918, F. Roney Weir, chapter 13, in Merry Andrew, Boston: Small, Maynard, page 187

5. Resembling a tongue.

   1882, Albert Kellogg, Forest Trees of California, Sacramento: J.D. Young, “The Noble Silver Fir,” p. 34, These tonguey bracts or scaly appendages […] never become shorter than the proper cone scales, or so as to be hid from outside view.

   2 more examples

   […] the brain-aura […] crowns the head after the manner of the tonguey flames of a torch.

   1903, Fred Max, chapter 1, in Soul-Return, Boston: E.H. Bacon, page 21

   Fleur leans back against the kitchen table, letting her face be licked by the tonguey vapour of her coffee-cup.

   2003, Toby Litt, Finding Myself, Penguin, published 2004, page 158

plural tongueys · alternative tonguy

1. AustraliaUKAn act or an instance of kissing that involves the use of one's tongue.

   Give me a kiss. No, open your mouth, I want a tonguey.

   1992, Louis Nowra, Così, Sydney: Currency Press, published 1994, act 2, scene 5, page 86

   1 more example

   He walked her to her house and received one last lingering Christmas tonguey under the mistletoe that hung above the door.

   2004, Ben Elton, chapter 20, in Past Mortem, London: Bantam, page 200

   Synonyms: French kiss