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tippy

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tippy¹

  • /ˈtɪpi/

Where it comes from

1790, tip (“apex”) + -y (diminutive). Sense of “clever” may be influenced by tip (“inside information”).

adjective tippier · tippiest

  1. colloquial, obsolete, slang Fashionable, tip-top. Of all the gay beaux, / That sport their smart cloathes, / There's none that my fancy can please, / With their Spencers or Crops, / Or woolly Foretops, / Like Bob with his Tippy Bootees.

    Similar: a la mode, trendy, a la mode/à la mode, all the rage, chic, sassy, cool, dapper, done, elegant, fashionable, groovy

  2. colloquial, slang Clever, neat, smart. She read Renan's Vie de Jésus, and I am now going to lend her the antidote—a tippy little bit of criticism by Pressensé.
  3. Of tea, having a large amount of tips, or leaf buds. Before rolling some planters are in the habit of sifting the leaf through a No. 4 sieve, and manufacturing the small leaf and tips that fall through separately. This will add to the appearance of the tea, by making it more tippy, but unless fancy teas are being made will not pay for the time and tro

noun tippies

  1. colloquial, obsolete, slang A dandy. Is his dreſs, as we may preſume it will be, elegant; exhibiting no articles of apparel but ſuch as are “All the rage?” he is “Quite the tippy.”

    Similar: cockscomb, fop, barbermonger, beau, blade, blood, buck, carpet knight, dandy, dike, dood, dude

  2. absolute, colloquial, obsolete, slang, with the Something at the height of fashion, excellent, cool. I underſtand, however, that there is a diſtinction between theſe names in the city and St. James's; in the latter place you may find faſhion in the characters of the ton, the taſte, the etiquette, &c. in the city they are all the tippy, the thing, the ſort, &c. and pretty things they are, Heaven kno

tippy²

  • /ˈtɪpi/

Where it comes from

1886, tip (“knock over”) + -y.

adjective tippier · tippiest

  1. Canada, US Tending to tip or tilt over; unstable.

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Cite this
MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX
@misc{tippy_2026,
  title = {tippy},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/tippy},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}