Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Slang Something extraordinary or bizarre: "Among the delicious names taken by, or given to, minor political parties in the United States . . . are these doozies: Quids, Locofocos, Barnburners, Coodies, Hunkies, Bucktails” ( Saturday Review).
Wiktionary
- n. US something that is extraordinary. Often used in the context of troublesome, difficult or problematic, but can be used positively as well.
Etymologies
- American, from daisy (the flower), also 18th century and onward English slang for something excellent. May have been influenced by Eleonora Duse, Italian actress. (Wiktionary)
- Possibly blend of daisy and Duesenberg, a luxury car of the late 1920s and 1930s. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“I didn't know the word doozy, but I guess that's a very positive word, huh?”
“In a Los Angeles Times article about the so-called "Gang of Six" senators, we're treated to this doozy, which is such conventional wisdom that no source was thought necessary: "Democratic senators up for reelection next year are particularly interested in debt-reduction strategies, an issue that has energized independent voters.”
“Another doozy was the time Danny left our heavy wooden ladder leaning against the wall next to the front door while I was out grocery shopping.”
“Whew ... that's an eight word doozy of a question.”
“Here's a real "doozy" joe found that I want to preserve and highlight:”
“I have to admire a critic who can characterize a piece of music as a "doozy".”
“Now, if I ever use the word "doozy," it ` s got to be a "doozy" because it ` s not a word, you know, I toss around lightly.”
“Like, 'doozy' as in 'you can't swing a dead cat without hitting some of the most obnoxious people on the planet.”
“The Holiday Season Precipitation Event of 2010 was either a "doozy" or a "humdinger,”
“More information, including how to call in, is a lovely review at Athena's Bookshelf, calling it both a "doozy" and a "wonderfully crafted family drama.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘doozy’.
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scrabble j q x z 4 and 5 letter words
revising for a competition 30 games
in 24 hours
5-Letter words with J, X, Q or Z
J
X
ADDAX ADMIX AFFIX ANNEX ATAXY AUXIN AXELS AXIAL AXILE AXILS A...azan, azon, boxy, brux, buzz, calx, chez, coax, coxa, cozy, crux, czar and 152 more...
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Y
What a -Y does to an otherwise common, dull word
zany, waxy, wavy, arty, chewy, bony, boxy, cozy, nosy, foxy, wiry, junky and 321 more...
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Unfamiliar Words
dank, refrain, hostage, frigid, warden, atrocious, squirm, kinship, riot, counterfeit, stamped, scaffolding and 59 more...
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generationnext's Words
petulant, vehement, pensive, lascivious, vacillate, histrionic, satiated, svelte, lithe, zeitgeist, viscous, sommelier and 526 more...
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Twitter favourites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favourite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
bumwank, calamity, recalcitrant, gayenese, jeeze, nonsense, flabbergasted, juxtapose, procrastinating, ossanity, biffing, loser and 1972 more... -
Is it morning yet?
coterie, lexeme, counterbalance, forthright, pigtail, ponytail, french-braid, barrette, listless, counsel, sitting duck, dead duck and 268 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, D
dodecahedron, din, diglyceride, dysphotopsia, decoction, deboss, diatonic, dithyramb, divagate, discalced, dishdasha, daft and 281 more...
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sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
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Umbersorrow
Intangible, anthropic.
States of being are listed on oofy.njiju, glark, deplore, afterlithe, tagmass, spuriosity, forkful, chelation, oding, ploat, botnet, quedeship and 477 more...
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stpeter's Words
abase, abasement, abashed, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abhorrent, abide, abject, ablation, abnegation and 3536 more...
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Words of the Day
glabella, chirotony, nook-shotten, crapehanger, filemot, swirlie, egosurf, lexiphanicism, Ruritanian, stichometry, chrononaut, faldstool and 2031 more...
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oddball
wackadoodlery.
( personal list )
related (from me):
http://www.wordnik.com/lists/onomatopoeias--1
bric-a-brac, succotash, humbucker, skedaddle, scallywag, sassafras, gadzooks, humdinger, hoity-toity, wishy-washy, namby-pamby, ding dong and 441 more...
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EN - funny (single) words
"Fornication" is not equal to "formication".
Words with funny meaning, spelling or both.barratry, bastinado, bezonian, bibcock, bibliobibuli, biffy, bodewash, boeotian, boondoggle, borborygmic, bosky, brobdingnagian and 729 more...
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Words that are fun to say
stipple, carbuncle, dongle, exemplar, misbegotten, gigolo, salubrious, jupiter, propinquity, piglet, tobogganing, supercilious and 309 more...
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mikepurvis's Words
consequentially, outrageous, shindig, mediocre, quintessential, vigilante, fabulous, ostentatious, pedantry, in the wild, buffet, amorphous and 122 more...
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the hotlist
short, sweet, epic, catchy, sassy, sexy & sizzling.
( personal list, randomness )
more:
http://www.wordnik.com/lists/...zing, epic, win, fail, hot, warp, times, clip, onyx, wonky, pwn, leet and 1493 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for doozy.
ruzuzu Brackets around "doozy rat in a sanitary zoo'd" be wonderful - thanks! Mar 19, 2010
sionnach "doozy rat in a sanitary zoo'd" be a palindrome if it made any sense. Mar 19, 2010
bilby The graph on the other page shows no occurrences before 1980...really? To me that would cast doubt on the Duesenberg etymology as that was a beast half a century before.
Anyway, see one here (where etymology claim is repeated, though that doesn't make it any likelier). Mar 19, 2010
john According to World Wide Words, this may have come from the word daisy, which in the nineteenth century was English slang for excellent. Feb 5, 2008