tonguey

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English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle English tungy, tungi, equivalent to tongue +‎ -y. Compare Old English tynġe (fluent, eloquent, skillful).

Adjective

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tonguey (comparative tonguier or more tonguey, superlative tonguiest or most tonguey)

  1. (of a person) Tending to talk a lot; fluent or voluble in speech (generally with an unfavourable connotation).
    Synonyms: garrulous, loquacious, talkative
    • 1608, Philip Woodward, Bels Trial Examined, Doai, Preface,[1]
      Seeing then he is now so mute, that before was so tonguy []
    • 1844, Charles Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit[2], London: Chapman and Hall, Chapter , p. 267:
      “You air a tongue-y person, Gen’ral. For you talk too much, and that’s a fact,” said Scadder. “You speak a-larmingly well in public, but you didn’t ought to go ahead so fast in private. Now!”
    • 1921, Leila Amos Pendleton, “The Foolish and the Wise: Sallie Runner Is Introduced to Socrates”, in Marcy Jane Knopf-Newman, editor, The Sleeper Wakes: Harlem Renaissance Stories by Women[3], New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, page 163:
      [] He had many friends who loved him truly and they tried to persuade him to escape, but by unanswerable arguments he proved to them how wrong they were.” ¶ “Humph!” grunted Sallie. “Tonguey to de last! An’ in de wrong way to de wrong ones.”
  2. (of speech) Using many words; containing grandiloquent expressions; marked by rhetorical elegance (generally with an unfavourable connotation).
    Synonyms: bombastic, flowery, verbose
    • 1885, J. H. Battle, Kentucky: A History of the State, Louisville, KY: F.A. Battey, “Biographical Sketches,” p. 839,[4]
      [] personal abuse and tonguy sarcasm are not elements of success in law practice.
    • 1896, F. Hopkinson Smith, Tom Grogan[5], New York: Grosset & Dunlap, Chapter , p. 186:
      “I have listened,” he said, “to the talk that Justice Rowan has given us. It’s very fine and tonguey, but it smothers up the facts. []
    • 1916, Kate Stephens, “Our Country Newspaper: The Genesis of Its Spirit”, in Workfellows in Social Progression[6], New York: Sturgis & Walton, page 45:
      those points especially warming to tonguey gossip—the neighboring tavern and country-store
  3. (of a quality) Manifested by fluent or voluble speech.
    • 1887, Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman, “The Bar Light-House”, in A Humble Romance, and Other Stories[7], New York: Harper & Brothers, page 182:
      [] even his tonguey confidence and ingenuousness could glean but little satisfaction from his interviews with the rheumatic and unbelieving old woman.
  4. Involving the tongue.
    • 1918, F. Roney Weir, chapter 13, in Merry Andrew[8], Boston: Small, Maynard, page 187:
      Wully seated himself upon the corner of the kitchen table, from beneath which appeared a dog’s welcoming nose accompanied by a tonguey, tooth-trimmed grin.
    • 1988, Hanif Kureishi, Sammy and Rosie Get Laid[9], London: Faber and Faber, page 8:
      They take each other’s hands and kiss goodbye, a longish tonguey kiss []
  5. Resembling a tongue.
    • 1882, Albert Kellogg, Forest Trees of California, Sacramento: J.D. Young, “The Noble Silver Fir,” p. 34,[10]
      These tonguey bracts or scaly appendages [] never become shorter than the proper cone scales, or so as to be hid from outside view.
    • 1903, Fred Max, chapter 1, in Soul-Return[11], Boston: E.H. Bacon, page 21:
      [] the brain-aura [] crowns the head after the manner of the tonguey flames of a torch.
    • 2003, Toby Litt, Finding Myself[12], Penguin, published 2004, page 158:
      Fleur leans back against the kitchen table, letting her face be licked by the tonguey vapour of her coffee-cup.

See also

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Noun

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tonguey (plural tongueys)

  1. (Australia, UK) An act or an instance of kissing that involves the use of one's tongue.
    Synonym: French kiss
    • 1992, Louis Nowra, Così[13], Sydney: Currency Press, published 1994, act 2, scene 5, page 86:
      Give me a kiss. No, open your mouth, I want a tonguey.
    • 2004, Ben Elton, chapter 20, in Past Mortem[14], London: Bantam, page 200:
      He walked her to her house and received one last lingering Christmas tonguey under the mistletoe that hung above the door.