Word of the Day

: May 11, 2011

pursy

adjective PER-see

What It Means

1 : having a puckered appearance

2 : purse-proud

pursy in Context

"There was a picture of a pale gent with a narrow face and a woman with dark eyes and a pursy mouth." -- From Stephen King's 1987 novel Misery

"Colleagues exchange amused looks at the way Byrd kept circling the chamber, a little scrawny fellow with … a pursy mouth…." -- From Burton Hersh's 2010 book Edward Kennedy: An Intimate Biography

Did You Know?

There are two adjectives spelled "pursy," each with its own etymology. The one we've featured above dates from the mid-16th century and has its source in the noun "purse" ("a receptacle for carrying money and other small objects"); a drawstring purse's puckered appearance is the inspiration. The other "pursy" (pronounced PUH-see or PER-see) dates from the 15th century and, like the first, has two meanings: "short-winded especially because of corpulence" and "fat." This "pursy" comes from the Old French word "pousser," meaning "to exert pressure" or "to breathe heavily" -- the same word, etymologists believe, behind the word "push."