boogy

English

Noun

boogy (plural boogies)

1. Alternative form of boogie
   1. A black person.
      • 1947, Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man, page 566:

        Strike a match, the boogy's nuts.

      • 1967, Jerome Charyn, The Man who Grew Younger, and Other Stories, page 45:

        I wouldn't give a shit if he was a boogy even, nobody's got style like Joe DiMaggio.

      • 2024, Rudolph Fisher, The Walls of Jericho, page 104:

        And what does the hard guy do the hardest boogy in Harlem?

   2. A jazzy style of music or dance.
      • 1950, Northwestern University on the Air, the Reviewing Stand, page 5:

        MR. KELLER: Be-bop is a new word for boogy or jazz.

      • 2004, Harry Justin Elam, ‎Robert Alexander, The Fire this Time: African-American Plays for the 21st Century, page 578:

        The rockin' to the bang bang boogy say up jump the boogy To the rhythm of the boogy the beat

   3. A dance where boogy music is played.
      • 1981, Thomas Akare, The Slums, page 59:

        That it would be after they had come from the boogy.

2. Alternative form of bogey
   1. A goblin or hostile supernatural being.
      • 1901, Irving Bacheller, D'ri and I, page 149:

        "The boogy light!" D'ri whispered. "There't goes ag'in!"

      • 1986, LiNQ. - Volumes 14-15, page 50:

        "Ya mean, yah ain't no boogy? " he jabbered. There was that sneaky, breathy laugh again. " Of course I'm not a boogy! "

      • 2012, Orson Scott Card, (Please provide the book title or journal name):

        "I make a boogy for my boy-baby,” she say. Fat Fox laugh, he know she lie. “Ain't no blackfeather boogy. I never heared of such a thing."

   2. A piece of dried mucus in or removed from the nostril.
      • 2005, Thomas E. Despres, The Cultural Connection, page 91:

        The kids were laughing at him so he shot back and told her, "Well, Miss Ortíz, with all due respect, I was taught that boogy is something that comes out of your nose and poopy is something that a dog does on the street."

3. Sexual intercourse
   • 1967, Ronald Ribman, Harry, Noon and Night, page 21:

     SOLDIER . There ain't nobody doing the dirty boogy.

Derived terms

• boogyman

 

Adjective

boogy (comparative more boogy, superlative most boogy)

1. Suspect; dodgy.
   • 1967, Audrey Lillian Barker, The Middling, page 64:

     Boogy questions get boogy answers .

Verb

boogy (third-person singular simple present boogies, present participle boogying, simple past and past participle boogied)

1. Alternative form of boogie
   1. To dance to boogie music; to get down.
      • 1976, John Schultz, Angels in My Oven, page 131:

        How was he supposed to boogy with one acoustic ?

      • 1980, Elmore Leonard, Gold Coast, page 58:

        He could hear the hi-fi going next door, Lesley boogying around the apartment to the Bee-Gees, ignoring her aunt, who was a little deaf.

      • 1992, Alan Cowell, Killing the Wizards, page 225:

        South Africans of any skin color were all out there on the floor and had decisions to make: not whether to boogy, but whom to boogy with.

      • 2017, Stuart Woods, Indecent Exposure, page 88:

        "There will be a big band, so you will have to dance with me." "And I shall." "No boogying, don't worry." “Do you think me incapable of boogying?”

      • 2017, Jed Pitman, The Invisible Man:

        Are they boogying and do they know how?' asks Johnny.

   2. To move, travel, or exit; to sashay.
      • 1986, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Energy and Commerce. Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Consumer Protection, and Finance, Motor Carrier Safety, page 167:

        There I was in the middle of the night boogying down the avenue and suddenly there was a cow and he boogied right over and there was yellow cake everywhere.

      • 2001, Robert Swindells, Wrecked, page 9:

        And talking of dopes, why don't you boogy on over to Thresher for a refresher.

      • 2009, Chris Taylor, Elizabeth, page 23:

        Well I'm boogying around there and this panther ain't crossed my mind that it'd be this panther that come back.

2. To have sex.
   • 2012, John Walker ·, How to Score Girls:

     This book was originally written in the "boogy down" year of 1974 – right in the middle of the 1970's when the dating scene finally broke free from the restrictions of the "Ozzie & Harriet" 1950's and the unwashed "Love Bead" 1960's.

   • 2024, Debra Clopton, The Trouble with a Valentine’s Cowboy:

     Boogying with him would be fun.

3. To bogart.
   • 2011, Christopher Ransom, The People Next Door:

     He knew they were. boogying the beer.