POWDERY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does powdery mean? 

• POWDERY (adjective)
  The adjective POWDERY has 2 senses:

1. consisting of fine particles

2. as if dulled in color with a sprinkling of powder

  Familiarity information: POWDERY used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• POWDERY (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Consisting of fine particles

Synonyms:

fine-grained; powdered; powdery; pulverised; pulverized; small-grained

Context example:

pulverized sugar is prepared from granulated sugar by grinding

Similar:

fine (of textures that are smooth to the touch or substances consisting of relatively small particles)

Derivation:

powder (a solid substance in the form of tiny loose particles; a solid that has been pulverized)

powderiness (having a very fine texture)

Sense 2

Meaning:

As if dulled in color with a sprinkling of powder

Context example:

a powdery blue

Similar:

light; light-colored ((used of color) having a relatively small amount of coloring agent)

 Context examples 

It grew colder and colder still, and fine, powdery snow began to fall, so that soon we and all around us were covered with a white blanket.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

They rolled over and over in the powdery snow.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

A fine powdery material such as dry earth or pollen that can be blown about in the air.

(Dust, NCI Thesaurus)

A buildup of planets in Pisces will coax you to be near water, so book a small hotel in a sunny climate overlooking powdery white sands, turquoise waters, and swaying palm trees.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

This is a valley of ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)