Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of or resembling a fox.
  • adjective Slyly clever; crafty.
  • adjective Having a reddish-brown color.
  • adjective Discolored, as by age or decay; foxed.
  • adjective Slang Sexually attractive.
  • adjective Having a distinctive sharp flavor or aroma.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In painting, marked by a disagreeable, hot quality of color.
  • Penetrating and well acquainted with the ways of the world; sharp; especially, having an air of knowingness: it then signifies a not very estimable character.
  • Pertaining to or characteristic of foxes; resembling or suggestive of a fox; hence, tricky; given to cunning or subtle artifice.
  • Of the color of the common red fox; rufous; reddish; ferrugineous.
  • Having the peculiar sickish-sweet taste and smell of the American fox-grape, illustrated in the familiar Concord grape.
  • said of wine, beer, etc., which has soured in the course of fermentation.
  • 2. Discolored, as by decay; stained; foxed. See foxed.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Like or pertaining to the fox; foxlike in disposition or looks; wily; cunning.
  • adjective Having the color of a fox; of a yellowish or reddish brown color; -- applied sometimes to paintings when they have too much of this color.
  • adjective Having the odor of a fox; rank; strong smelling.
  • adjective Sour; unpleasant in taste; -- said of wine, beer, etc., not properly fermented; -- also of grapes which have the coarse flavor of the fox grape.
  • adjective Slang Attractive in a sexually appealing way; --of women.
  • adjective Slang Stylish and sexually attractive; -- of women's clothing.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective having the qualities of a fox
  • adjective attractive, sexy
  • adjective of a person red-haired.
  • adjective of wine Having an animal-like odour

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective marked by skill in deception

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From fox +‎ -y, from Old English fox, from West Germanic *fukhs, from Proto-Germanic *fuhsaz, from Proto-Indo-European *puk-so-, from *puk- (tail).

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Examples

  • All prime ministers, even Margaret Thatcher, engage in foxy tactics to disguise tactical retreats in Brussels, and usually get away with it.

    Can David Cameron strike a hard bargain in Brussels? Michael White 2010

  • It is a hardy variety with some bunch-rot disease resistance, but can easily result in foxy, grapy flavors if not picked early enough.

    The New York Cork Report: 2007

  • As for the word foxy, Zombie was unable to bring foxy back.

    Epinions Recent Content for Home 2010

  • Rob Zombie attempts to bring the word foxy back in "Foxy, Foxy".

    Epinions Recent Content for Home 2010

  • My old friend James, when he sees a pretty girl, calls her foxy.

    The Dirty Life Kristin Kimball 2010

  • "That question is what your Majesty might call foxy," said one of the counselors, an old grey fox.

    Love Letters 2010

  • He was a slim red-haired man, not above thirty years of age, the kind of man his enemies would call foxy, with a very courteous and deliberate manner, and he spoke with a slight Scotch accent.

    By What Authority? Robert Hugh Benson 1892

  • "That question is what your Majesty might call foxy," said one of the counselors, an old grey fox.

    The Road to Oz 1887

  • "That question is what your Majesty might call foxy," said one of the counselors, an old grey fox.

    The Road to Oz 1887

  • Of the former but two kinds are considered suitable, the concord and the isabella, both being varieties of the indigenous labrusca, or so-called foxy-flavoured grape.

    Facts About Champagne and Other Sparkling Wines Henry Vizetelly 1857

Comments

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  • also: Sensually attractive; sexy.

    July 22, 2008

  • He looked younger than his companion, in spite of his thick, foxy beard.

    - Lesage, The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane, tr. Smollett, bk 4 ch. 11

    September 18, 2008