worky
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwɜːki/
ipa: /ˈwɜɹki/
homophone: workie
rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)ki
Forms: form: workier
form: workiest
Etymology: From work (noun) + -y (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘having the quality of’).
Senses: examples: text: The vvorky-daies are the back-part; / The burden of the vveek lies there, / Making the vvhole to ſtoup and bovv, / Till thy [God's] releaſe appeare.
ref: [[1633], George Herbert, “Sunday”, in [Nicholas Ferrar], editor, The Temple. Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green, […], →OCLC, page 67:
text: I have had no duties of the worky sort except taking care of my own room, paying some attention to Mother and Ellen when sick and teaching Ellen and Richard two afternoons in the week.
ref: 1839 March 4 (date written), Margaret Fuller, “[Letter] 209. To Caroline Sturgis.”, in Robert N. Hudspeth, editor, The Letters of Margaret Fuller, volumes II (1839–41), Ithaca, N.Y.; London: Cornell University Press, published 1983 (1995 printing), →ISBN, page 58:
text: [I]n poetry the lights are triumphant—and gazing on the glory men's hearts burn within them—and they carry the joy in among their own griefs, till despondency gives way to exultation, and the day's darg of this worky world is lightened by a dawn of dreams.
ref: 1842, Christopher North [pseudonym; John Wilson], “An Hour’s Talk about Poetry”, in Recreations of Christopher North. […], volume I, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, page 321:
text: There is no end of the epigrams and witticisms which she can throw out, this elegant Mrs. T., on people who marry for love, lead prosy, worky lives, and put on their best cap with pink ribbons for Sunday.
ref: 1859, Harriet Beecher Stowe, “Which Treats of Romance”, in The Minister’s Wooing, New York, N.Y.: Derby and Jackson, […], →OCLC, page 120:
text: These are not necessarily melancholy days; they are very worky, playful, enjoyable ones to those who keep well and busy.
ref: 1896 October, Will Carleton, “At Home: The Passing of the Vacation”, in Will Carleton’s Magazine Every Where, volume III, number 2, Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.: Every Where Pub. Co., →OCLC, page 22:
text: The Fours are having a very worky morning.
ref: 1938, Clarice Madeline Dixon, High, Wide and Deep: Discovering the Preschool Child, New York, N.Y.: John Day Company, →OCLC, page 229:
text: If you're reading this, I've popped my clogs from too much worky-boring-thinky stuff and not enough menacing.
ref: 2014, Steven Butler, “The Last Will and Testament of Dennis the Menace”, in The Diary of Dennis the Menace, London: Puffin Books, →ISBN, page 4:
synonyms: working
workish
worklike
glosses: Characterized by or pertaining to work.
examples: text: The problem with the meet-me-at-a-bar date is that I want to look as great as possible, without looking like I've made too much effort. Dresses feel too dressy, skirts too girly, tanks too booby, shirts too worky, and then of course we have the whole shoes issue.
ref: 2013, Gemma Burgess, Brooklyn Girls, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Griffin, →ISBN, page 191:
text: The secretary prints out a schedule and gives us our e-mail log-in and password, then says, "Hold on a minute" and comes back with someone who looks like a student, except that her clothes are a little worky.
ref: 2017, Joanne O’Sullivan, “Refugees”, in Between Two Skies, Somerville, Mass.: Candlewick Press, →ISBN, page 68:
synonyms: businesslike
glosses: Especially of attire: appropriate for work.
examples: text: Richard's Caſtle ſtandeth at the top of a very vvorky hill, vvell vvooded, and at the vveſt end of the Pariſh Church there.
ref: 1797, J[ohn] Price, quoting John Leland, “Sect. IV. Church, Charitable Foundations &c.”, in The Ludlow Guide, Comprising an Account of the Ancient and Present State of that Town, and It’s Neighbourhood; […], 2nd edition, Ludlow, Shropshire: […] H. Procter; sold also by T[homas] N[orton] Longman, […], →OCLC, page 67:
text: Estate planners seldom recommend partial QTIP elections, and most people who create QTIPs, and their executors, don't bother with them. They're just too worky and complicated.
ref: 1999 October, Denis Clifford, Mary Randolph, “Use a QTIP Trust”, in 9 Ways to Avoid Estate Taxes, Berkeley, Calif.: Nolo, →ISBN, page 5/19:
text: [N]ot only will you need pricey insurance, but you'll probably want to form a corporation or limited liability company to protect your personal assets. All this may be fine for someone in the real estate business, but is far too worky for a savvy peasant who already has a busy life.
ref: 2000 August, Ralph [E.] Warner, “The Savvy Peasant’s Investment Guide”, in Get a Life: You Don't Need a Million to Retire Well, 3rd edition, Berkeley, Calif.: Nolo, →ISBN, page 323:
text: If, in your state, foreclosures proceed without court supervision (nonjudicial foreclosure), then you'll have to bring your own lawsuit—a more worky and costly process.
ref: 2008 September, Stephen Elias, “Fighting Foreclosure in Court”, in The Foreclosure Survival Guide: Keep Your House or Walk Away with Money in Your Pocket, Berkeley, Calif.: Nolo, →ISBN, page 139:
text: Mom made sure we all knew the meaning of hard work, too. Many a Saturday morning began with the words I came to dread: "Today is the workiest of work days!" she would cheerfully announce. […] Mom had our full attention and a long list of chores to get done around the house.
ref: 2001, Ted Fletcher, “Ordinary Son”, in When God Comes Calling: A Journey of Faith … Wall Street to the World, Mobile, Ala.: Gazelle Press, Genesis Communications, →ISBN, page 15:
text: Work is so worky today, y'all. We're short, we're proning three pts, and have paralyzed a fourth.
ref: 2021, Cassandra Alexander, “July 2020”, in Year of the Nurse: A Covid-19 Pandemic Memoir, [S.l.]: Caskara Press, →ISBN:
synonyms: laborious
labor-intensive
glosses: Requiring much work.
examples: text: Angelo has an important deadline, so he is all worky today.
text: […] Jasper is lazy as a dawg, so he wouldn't be much use to you, but Sexton's more worky … he could help you pull your skiff.
ref: 1936, Harry Hamilton, Banjo on My Knee, Indianapolis, Ind.: Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 117:
text: You will come here first. Don't arrive of course sans le me faire savoir [without letting me know]. I am very busy, very worky.
ref: 1957, Marguerite Caetani, editor, Botteghe Oscure, volume 19, Rome: Botteghe Oscure, →OCLC, page 194:
text: Ye Gods, I know what would happen to me, if I knew what my liability was in advance. I would be the planniest, schemiest, workiest citizen to get that covered just like we cover our overhead.
ref: 1969, Daniel M. Holland, “The Effect of Taxation on Effort: Some Results for Business Executives”, in Stanley J. Bowers, editor, Proceedings of the Sixty-second Annual Conference on Taxation Held under the Auspices of the National Tax Association at Boston, Massachusetts, September 29 – October 3, 1969 […], volume 62, Columbus, Ohio: National Tax Association, published 1970, →ISSN, →JSTOR, →OCLC, pages 450–451:
text: Pam's always been very worky; now I'm worky, too. We're quite a worky couple, and if one of us isn't working at any given moment that person feels guilty before the other and has to explain and justify. That's why our relationship works, I think: because we work together on various projects. We don't have time to argue.
ref: 1999, David Eddie, “Our Horrible Honeymoon”, in Housebroken: Confessions of a Stay-at-Home Dad, 1st Riverhead trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Riverhead Books, published May 2003, →ISBN, page 94:
text: [T]he "workier" you are, the healthier you become. […] Your work is the most economic gymnasium of all time. Hard work doesn't kill; it only refines.
ref: 2011, Daniel Ibrahim, “Worktitudes”, in Opulently Organized Opportunity: From the Soul of Heaven, Pittsburgh, Pa.: Dorrance Publishing Company, →ISBN, act 1 (Away from the Blind!), page 32:
synonyms: diligent
industrious
workish
glosses: Tending to be very serious about work.
examples: text: From England we came by the overland mail, / Waghorny quickly done; / […] / Where the sign of a dragon turns nobody pale; / But simply inspires a thought of pale ale, / With its whisky, frisky, worky, jerky, / Hoppery, poppery, spittery, bittery, / Frolicking frothy fun.
ref: 1849 April 9 (first performance), J[ames] R[obinson] Planché, The Seven Champions of Christendom. An Original Comic Fantastic Spectacle […], London: S. G. Fairbrother, […], published [1849], →OCLC, Act II, scene i, page 24:
text: More water or meglip must be added as occasion requires [when painting on china]; but too much of the former is apt to produce a very worky appearance, and if too much of the latter is used the color will take a long time to dry.
ref: 1882, Nugent Robinson, compiler, “Painting”, in Collier’s Cyclopedia of Commercial and Social Information […], revised edition, New York, N.Y.: Peter Fenelon Collier, →OCLC, page 740, column 1:
synonyms: intricate#Adjective
involved#Adjective
coordinate_terms: overdone
overwrought
glosses: Showing the effect of much effort and work.
Related terms: working
workish
worklike