gammy

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈɡæmi/ UK /ˈɡæmi/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
(of a limb) injured, lame, or unable to function properly

His gammy leg ached whenever the weather turned cold.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · (of a limb) injured, lame,... lame injured crippled disabled game

Opposites

sound healthy

Word family

Related forms game

Etymology

British dialectal variant of 'game' in the sense 'lame, crippled' (as in 'game leg'); of uncertain origin, perhaps from Welsh 'cam' ('crooked, bent').

cam Welsh

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# gammy

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈɡæmi/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɡæmi/

## Meanings
1. (of a limb) injured, lame, or unable to function properly

## Examples
- His gammy leg ached whenever the weather turned cold.

## Synonyms
- lame
- injured
- crippled
- disabled
- game

## Antonyms
- sound
- healthy

## Related Forms
- game

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: cam

## Etymology
British dialectal variant of 'game' in the sense 'lame, crippled' (as in 'game leg'); of uncertain origin, perhaps from Welsh 'cam' ('crooked, bent').

## AI Etymology
Gammy is traced as follows: British dialectal variant of 'game' in the sense 'lame, crippled' (as in 'game leg'); of uncertain origin, perhaps from Welsh 'cam' ('crooked, bent'). The history is deliberately cautious: the proposed comparison is useful for orientation, but the wording leaves room for uncertainty rather than forcing a false certainty. In present use, it is used as an adjective meaning "(of a limb) injured, lame, or unable to function properly", so the historical material remains connected with the current sense rather than standing as bare ancestry. The wider English family includes related forms such as game, showing how the same historical material continues to organize neighboring vocabulary. The named historical forms include Welsh cam, keeping the history tied to concrete forms rather than a loose resemblance. Its semantic neighborhood is marked by lame, injured, crippled, and disabled on one side and contrasts such as sound and healthy on the other, locating the modern specialization without adding a new origin story.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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