thoughty

English

Etymology

From Middle English thoughty, thoghty, equivalent to thought +‎ -y. Cognate with Scots thochty (“thoughty”), Dutch gedachtig (“thoughty”), German gedächtig (“suspicious”).

Adjective

thoughty (comparative thoughtier or more thoughty, superlative thoughtiest or most thoughty)

Pensive; given to serious thought or reflection; attentive; intelligent
- 1894, James Hamilton Wylie, History of England under Henry the Fourth, volume 2, pages 22–23:
  His pouch was now all void and empty, his future years were like to be sour, thoughty, and woe-begone, and himself a cumberworld, unsicker of his scarce and slender livelihood in lickpenny London, forced to beg, steal, or starve, and gaping after honest death.
- 1980, George Thomas Simon, Glenn Miller and His Orchestra:
  [...] "there was no questioning Glenn's ability. He was a very 'thoughty' guy. And he was also a very sly one — for Glenn Miller."
- 1981, Martin Harry Greenberg, Fantastic lives:
  "Yoi, yoi, it's always the other guys," the Ganymedean snorted in disgust. "But SF is the phonetic equivalent of 'as if in Milt Gross dialect, a very thoughty parallel."
- 2001, Richard Slotkin, Abe: A Novel of the Young Lincoln:
  And Abe — she remembered him from one time Mr. Lincoln brought him to town, a thoughty talky little thing that noticed everything and had a word for it. He wasn't more than ten or eleven now, but had done some remarkable growing.
- 2007, Ma Kimberly Quinn Smith, Kimberly Quinn Smith Ma, A Full Moon Rising...and the Tao of Menopause:
  I have been thoughty of my grandmother all week, every day actually. Thoughty is a word straight from Gramma's dictionary and is defined by an inner cognitive awareness of someone. It is more than thoughtfulness. It is a more intense character trait as it involves the spirit on a much deeper level. When I am thoughty of someone, they are not only on my mind, but in my heart, and connected to and felt by my spirit. This is what it means to be thoughty.
- 2009, Lonnie Cruse, Fifty-seven heaven:
  Killing me now, for whatever reason, was going to take a lot of guts and a lot of thought, and I planned to be much gutsier and thoughtier.
- 2011, Celia Rivenbark, You Don't Sweat Much for a Fat Girl:
  Ditto my nightly hit of Marketplace, a thoughty economy-based show on NPR. It never hit home until Salem's wise and loving and occasionally-during-sweeps-months demon-possessed psychiatrist and her studly husband got the ax.
- 2011, Russell T. Hurlburt, Investigating Pristine Inner Experience: Moments of Truth:
  Prior to sampling, Mike characterized himself as a “thoughty” person, and it might have been tempting to launch an investigation of the characteristics of his thinking.
- 2013, Cait Oliver, Laying the Ghost: A Return to Culloden:
  “Such a thoughty man! And easy on the eyes, as well! Well done, my man! You're such a doat!” She raised her cup of mead in salute.

Synonyms