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gammy

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gammy¹

  • /ˈɡæmi/

Rhymes with -æmi

Where it comes from

Origin obscure and uncertain. Possibly from the English dialectal (North Midlands) adjective game (“lame”), Welsh cam (“crooked”), or from Irish cam (“bent”), by way of Shelta. Compare also Old Occitan gambi (“lame, limping”), related to Old Occitan gamba (“leg”) (see also French jambe (“leg”), English gam (“leg”)).

adjective gammier · gammiest · gammie

  1. Injured, or not functioning properly (with respect to legs). I have got a gammy leg, and can't walk far.

    Similar: lame

  2. obsolete, slang Fake; counterfeit. A little bit of real lace would be fixed on this as in process of making, and a lot of "gammy" stuff, imitation lace, would be carried with it.
  3. obsolete, slang Bad; unfavourable.

gammy²

  • /ˈɡæmi/

Rhymes with -æmi

Where it comes from

Abbreviation + -y.

noun gammies · gammie

  1. colloquial Grandmother. Had our beloved gammy lost it?

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Cite this
MLA

"gammy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/gammy. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

gammy. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/gammy

Chicago

"gammy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/gammy.

BibTeX
@misc{gammy_2026,
  title = {gammy},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/gammy},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}