# dandy
## English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈdæn.di/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -ændi

### Etymology 1

Borrowed from Scots dandy (“a fop; one who is well-dressed”). Of uncertain origin.
Possibly from Dandy, a diminutive of Andrew, yet the Scots word is used also in reference to women. Alternatively, possibly a back-formation of Scots dandilly, dandillie (“one who is spoiled or pampered; a "pet"”). Compare English dandle and dander.

#### Noun

dandy (plural dandies)
* A man very concerned about his physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance in a cult of self.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:dandy
** 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 60, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:The gallant young Indian dandy at home on furlough — immense dandies these — chained and moustached — driving in tearing cabs, the pillars of the theatres, living at West End Hotels, — […]
** 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter VI, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 68:No town-bred dandy will compare with a country-bred one—I mean a downright bumpkin dandy–a fellow that, in the dog-days, will mow his two acres in buckskin gloves for fear of tanning his hands.
** 1945, J. B. Priestley, chapter I, in An Inspector Calls:“Gerald Croft is an attractive chap about thirty, rather too manly to be a dandy but very much the easy well-bred young man-about-town.”
* Something excellent in its class.
* (British, nautical) A yawl, or a small after-sail on a yawl.
* A dandy roller.
* (UK, Ireland, slang, archaic) A small glass of whisky.
** 1844, William Jesse, The life of George Brummell, page 57:Somebody quite as notorious as Brummell, but whose follies have been far more mischievous; whose eloquence is great, but certainly not always refined; and to whose health many a dandy of whisky has been tossed off.

##### Derived terms

* dandification
* dandify
* dandizette
* dandy brush
* dandy cart
* dandydom
* dandyess
* dandy fever
* dandyish
* dandyism
* dandyize
* dandy line
* dandyling
* dandy roller

##### Descendants

* → Dutch: dandy
* → Esperanto: dando
* → Finnish: dandy
* → French: dandy, → French: dundee
* → German: Dandy
* → Japanese: ダンディ, ダンディー
* → Limburgish: dèndie
* → Polish: dandy
* → Spanish: dandy

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

##### See also

* boulevardier
* man about town

#### Adjective

dandy (comparative dandier, superlative dandiest)
* Like a dandy, foppish.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:foppish
* Very good; better than expected but not as good as could be.
    Synonyms: all very well, well and good
    That's all fine and dandy, but how much does it cost?
* Excellent; first-rate.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:excellent
    What a dandy little laptop you have.
** 1924, Boys' Life, page 27:Grip Sures are dandy shoes for anything that comes along. Hiking, climbing, canoeing, around camp or in the gym — you can't have anything better.
** 1945, Mack David, Alex C Kramer, Joan Whitney, “Candy”, performed by Nat King Cole:Its gonna be just dandy / The day I take my Candy / And make him mine all mine
** 1967 December 23, “Disney ‘Jungle Book’ Arrives Just in Time”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:A perfectly dandy cartoon feature, “The Jungle Book,” scooted into local theaters yesterday just ahead of the big day, and it's ideal for the children.

##### Derived terms

* dandily
* dandiness
* dandy as candy
* dandy-horse
* dandy horse
* dandy roll
* dandy-roll
* dandy-roller
* dandy shandy
* dandy stick
* fine and dandy
* fine and dandy like sour candy
* handy dandy
* handy-dandy
* jack-a-dandy
* jim-dandy
* jim dandy

##### Translations
### Etymology 2

From Hindi डंडी (ḍaṇḍī, “rod, pole”), from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀟𑀁𑀟𑀺𑀕𑀸 (ḍaṃḍigā), from Sanskrit दण्डिका (daṇḍikā), from दण्ड (daṇḍa) + -इका (-ikā).

#### Noun

dandy (plural dandies)
* (India) A boatman, a rower. [1685]
** 1685 January 6, William Hedges, Diary, Vol. I, p. 175:
    Our Dandees (or boatmen) boyled their rice.
* (India) A Shaiva mendicant who carries a small rod. [1832]
** 1862, Henry Beveridge, A Comprehensive History of India..., volume II, page 74:...the Dandis, distinguished by carrying a small dand or wand...
* (India) An open sedan chair formed by suspending a rudimentary frame or strong cloth from a pole or set of poles. [1870]
** 1870, Constance Frederica Gordon-Cumming, Good Words, p. 135:
** As the darkness closed in... I had to give up the attempt to use the dandy, and struggle on on foot.
** 1888 July 2, Times, page 5:Major Battye and Captain Urmston joined the rear and placed the wounded man in a dandy.

##### Alternative forms

* dandi, dandie, dandee

##### Synonyms

* (open sedan chair): andor, jampan

##### Related terms

* dandy-wallah

##### Translations
### References

* “dandy | dandi, n³.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

### See also

* randy-dandy (probably not etymologically related)

## Dutch
### Etymology

Borrowed from English dandy.

### Pronunciation

* (Netherlands) IPA: /ˈdɛn.di/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: dan‧dy

### Noun

dandy m (plural dandy's, diminutive dandy'tje n)
* dandy
    Synonyms: fat, pronker

## Finnish
### Etymology

Borrowed from English dandy.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈdændi/, [ˈdændi]
* Rhymes: -ændi

### Noun

dandy
* dandy

#### Declension

Possessive forms of dandy (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation) :
first-person singular possessor
singular
plural
nominative
dandyni
dandyni
accusative
nom.
dandyni
dandyni
gen.
dandyni
genitive
dandyni
dandyjeni
partitive
dandyäni
dandyjäni
inessive
dandyssäni
dandyissäni
elative
dandystäni
dandyistäni
illative
dandyyni
dandyihini
adessive
dandylläni
dandyilläni
ablative
dandyltäni
dandyiltäni
allative
dandylleni
dandyilleni
essive
dandynäni
dandyinäni
translative
dandykseni
dandyikseni
abessive
dandyttäni
dandyittäni
instructive
comitative
—dandyineni
second-person singular possessor
singular
plural
nominative
dandysi
dandysi
accusative
nom.
dandysi
dandysi
gen.
dandysi
genitive
dandysi
dandyjesi
partitive
dandyäsi
dandyjäsi
inessive
dandyssäsi
dandyissäsi
elative
dandystäsi
dandyistäsi
illative
dandyysi
dandyihisi
adessive
dandylläsi
dandyilläsi
ablative
dandyltäsi
dandyiltäsi
allative
dandyllesi
dandyillesi
essive
dandynäsi
dandyinäsi
translative
dandyksesi
dandyiksesi
abessive
dandyttäsi
dandyittäsi
instructive
comitative
—dandyinesi
first-person plural possessor
singular
plural
nominative
dandymme
dandymme
accusative
nom.
dandymme
dandymme
gen.
dandymme
genitive
dandymme
dandyjemme
partitive
dandyämme
dandyjämme
inessive
dandyssämme
dandyissämme
elative
dandystämme
dandyistämme
illative
dandyymme
dandyihimme
adessive
dandyllämme
dandyillämme
ablative
dandyltämme
dandyiltämme
allative
dandyllemme
dandyillemme
essive
dandynämme
dandyinämme
translative
dandyksemme
dandyiksemme
abessive
dandyttämme
dandyittämme
instructive
comitative
—dandyinemme
second-person plural possessor
singular
plural
nominative
dandynne
dandynne
accusative
nom.
dandynne
dandynne
gen.
dandynne
genitive
dandynne
dandyjenne
partitive
dandyänne
dandyjänne
inessive
dandyssänne
dandyissänne
elative
dandystänne
dandyistänne
illative
dandyynne
dandyihinne
adessive
dandyllänne
dandyillänne
ablative
dandyltänne
dandyiltänne
allative
dandyllenne
dandyillenne
essive
dandynänne
dandyinänne
translative
dandyksenne
dandyiksenne
abessive
dandyttänne
dandyittänne
instructive
comitative
—dandyinenne
third-person possessor
singular
plural
nominative
dandynsä
dandynsä
accusative
nom.
dandynsä
dandynsä
gen.
dandynsä
genitive
dandynsä
dandyjensä
partitive
dandyään dandyänsä
dandyjään dandyjänsä
inessive
dandyssään dandyssänsä
dandyissään dandyissänsä
elative
dandystään dandystänsä
dandyistään dandyistänsä
illative
dandyynsä
dandyihinsä
adessive
dandyllään dandyllänsä
dandyillään dandyillänsä
ablative
dandyltään dandyltänsä
dandyiltään dandyiltänsä
allative
dandylleen dandyllensä
dandyilleen dandyillensä
essive
dandynään dandynänsä
dandyinään dandyinänsä
translative
dandykseen dandyksensä
dandyikseen dandyiksensä
abessive
dandyttään dandyttänsä
dandyittään dandyittänsä
instructive
comitative
—dandyineen dandyinensä :

### Further reading

* “dandy”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

## French
### Etymology

English dandy.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /dɑ̃.di/

### Noun

dandy m (plural dandys or dandies)
* dandy
** 1864, Charles Baudelaire, Mon cœur mis à nu:Le dandy doit aspirer à être sublime, sans interruption. Il doit vivre et dormir devant un miroir.The dandy must aspire to be constantly sublime. He must live and sleep in front of a mirror.

### Further reading

* “dandy”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

## Romanian
### Alternative forms

* dandy

### Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English dandy.

### Noun

dandy m (uncountable)
* dandy

#### Declension
## Slovak
### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈdandi]

### Noun

dandy m pers
* dandy

#### Declension
### Further reading

* “dandy”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025

## Spanish
### Alternative forms

* dandi

### Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English dandy.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈdandi/ [ˈd̪ãn̪.d̪i]
* Rhymes: -andi
* Syllabification: dan‧dy

### Noun

dandy m (plural dandys)
* dandy

#### Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

### Further reading

* “dandi”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10