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shiny

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Pronunciation

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  • enPR: shī'nē, IPA(key): /ˈʃaɪ.ni/
    • Audio (UK):(file)
    • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -aɪni

Etymology 1

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From shine +‎ -y (adjectival suffix).

Adjective

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shiny (comparative shinier or more shiny, superlative shiniest or most shiny)

  1. Reflecting light.
    Coordinate terms: glossy, glassy
    Antonyms: dull, flat, matte
    • 1920, Will Payne, The Scarred Chin, page 130:
      He was wearing a new, fawn-coloured summer suit and a new straw hat—his trousers the creasiest and his shoes the shiniest. Yet he seemed not to be taking the usual infantile satisfaction in a very smart, correct costume.
    • 2011, Ronke Luke-Boone, African Fabrics: Sewing Contemporary Fashion with Ethic Flair:
      Commercially produced yarn, such as rayon, produces a cloth with a smoother, shinier look than hand-spun cotton, but the uneven, rugged look of hand-spun cotton can be quite appealing.
  2. Emitting light.
    Antonym: dark
  3. (colloquial) Excellent; remarkable.
    • 2007, Christopher Brookmyre, Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks, →ISBN, page 132:
      We're shiny, Okay?
  4. (obsolete) Bright; luminous; clear; unclouded.
    • 1665, John Dryden, Verses to her Royal Highness the Duchess [of York]:
      Like distant thunder on a shiny day.
    • The Lincolnshire Poacher (traditional song)
      When I was bound apprentice in famous Lincolnshire
      Full well I served my master for nigh on seven years
      Till I took up to poaching as you shall quickly hear
      Oh, 'tis my delight on a shiny night in the season of the year.
Derived terms
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Translations
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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Etymology 2

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From shine +‎ -y (noun suffix).

Noun

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shiny (plural shinies)

  1. (informal) Anything shiny; a trinket.
  2. (slang) Contraction of disparaging term "shiny arses", originating during World War Two, to describe a desk worker.[1]