beady

English

Etymology

From bead +‎ -y.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbiː.di/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbi.di/

Adjective

beady (comparative beadier or more beady, superlative beadiest or most beady)

1. Resembling beads; small, round, and gleaming.
   • 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 19, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:

     seeing Mrs. Bute's beady eyes

   • 1902, Robert Marshall Grade, The Haunted Major:

     I shivered in every limb, and a cold beady dew sprang out on my temples as I stood with eyes riveted on the spectral figure before me.

2. Bright and penetrating. (of eyes or a look)
   • 1996, Radiohead (lyrics and music), “Street Spirit (Fade Out)”, in The Bends:

     Cracked eggs, dead birds, scream as they fight for life / I can feel death, can see its beady eyes

3. Covered or ornamented with, or as if with, beads.
4. Characterized by beads.

   beady liquor

Derived terms

• beadily
• beadiness
• beady eye

 

Related terms

• beady-eyed
• beadies

Anagrams

• abyde, abyed, bayed