brassy C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities US /ˈbræsi/ UK /ˈbrɑːsi/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 adj resembling brass in color or sound; loudly bold or tasteless She had a brassy laugh that filled the whole room. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 adj · resembling brass in color... boldloudtastelessgarishstridentflashygaudy ↔ Opposites demuresubtlerefinedmodestmuted Word family Derived forms brassilybrassiness Related forms brassbrassbound Etymology AI details From brass (Old English bræs) + the adjectival suffix -y. The figurative senses 'loud, tastelessly bold' developed from the metal's bright color and harsh sound. bræs Old English View etymology graph -> Topics Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # brassy **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** adj **IPA (US):** /ˈbræsi/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈbrɑːsi/ ## Meanings 1. resembling brass in color or sound; loudly bold or tasteless ## Examples - She had a brassy laugh that filled the whole room. ## Synonyms - bold - loud - tasteless - garish - strident - flashy - gaudy ## Antonyms - demure - subtle - refined - modest - muted ## Derived Forms - brassily - brassiness ## Related Forms - brass - brassbound ## Roots and Affixes - Root: bræs ## Etymology From brass (Old English bræs) + the adjectival suffix -y. The figurative senses 'loud, tastelessly bold' developed from the metal's bright color and harsh sound. ## AI Etymology Brassy comes from brass (Old English bræs) + the adjectival suffix -y. The figurative senses 'loud, tastelessly bold' developed from the metal's bright color and harsh sound. The historical trail runs through bræs in Old English. Morphologically, brassy is transparent: it draws on brass (Old English bræs) + the adjectival suffix -y. Used as an adjective, brassy now means "resembling brass in color or sound; loudly bold or tasteless", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in derived forms such as brassily and brassiness and related forms such as brass and brassbound. The modern word remains analyzable through its parts, which makes the semantic connection unusually direct. ## Topics - Describing Qualities - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown