1
: adorned with fringes : resembling fringe
a tree with fringy leaves … the gracefullest little fringy films of lace …—
Mark Twain, A Tramp Abroad, 1880 … the pink wing chair in the living room, whose fringy upholstery has been so finely shredded one would think it had been produced by the workroom of a Paris couturier. In fact, it was done by his cat.—David Colman, Elle Décor, March 2006
2
: relating to, characteristic of, or associated with a fringe activity or group (see fringe entry 1 sense 3) : not mainstream
Electoral coalitions inevitably include those on the fringe, and the closer you get to a genuine grassroots movement the more fringy it becomes.—Mark Hemingway, Weekly Standard, 11 June 2012 The question of whether to buy a policy would have been easy to answer a few years ago—and the answer probably would have been no. Until the mid-1990s, long-term-care insurance was decidedly fringy, with policies so poorly designed that they were hard to afford indefinitely or collect on.—Jeanne Lee, Money, December 2002
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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