palsy-walsy

adjective

ˌpal-zē-ˈwal-zē How to pronounce palsy-walsy (audio)
Definition of palsy-walsynext
slang
as in warm
having or showing kindly feeling and sincere interest she's gotten very palsy-walsy with the boss all of a sudden

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for palsy-walsy
  1. warm
  2. friendly
Adjective
  • Expect a pan-European menu of pimientos de padron peppers, warm leek salad and a surprising tuna Milanese with fun twists like a wagyu sando.
    — Lily Templeton, Footwear News, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Forecasters are warning about dangerous conditions at Southern California beaches this week, with high surf, erosion and possible coastal flooding, as a pair of storms roil warm Pacific waters and send yet more southerly swells toward the shoreline.
    — Alex Wigglesworth, Los Angeles Times, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of warm
Adjective
  • The playground is less playground, more sprawling treehouse, complete with climbing structures, waterslides, and two toddler-friendly pools.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 1 Oct. 2026
  • An archipelago famed for its friendly culture, white-sand beaches and teeming coral reefs, Fiji has struggled for years to contain a drug boom.
    — Jessie Yeung, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of friendly
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

palsy
palsy-walsy
palter
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Palsy-walsy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/palsy-walsy. Accessed 3 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of tittle

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Oct. 2

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All