purfly

English

Etymology

From purfle +‎ -y.

Adjective

purfly (comparative more purfly, superlative most purfly)

1. (archaic, rare) Wrinkled.

   Synonyms: bewrinkled, rugose, wrinkly; see also Thesaurus:wrinkled

   • 1832 May, Thomas Carlyle, “[James] Boswell’s Life of [Samuel] Johnson”, in R[alph] W[aldo] E[merson], editor, Critical and Miscellaneous Essays: […], volume III, Boston, Mass.: James Munroe and Company, published 1839, →OCLC, page 147:

     [T]hree of the boys, of whom Mr. Hector was sometimes one, used to come in the morning as his humble attendants, and carry him [Johnson] to school. […] The purfly, sand-blind lubber and blubber, with his open mouth, and face of bruised honeycomb; yet already dominant, imperial, irresistible!