RACY (racier, raciest)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: racier    , raciest   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does racy mean? 

• RACY (adjective)
  The adjective RACY has 4 senses:

1. full of zest or vigor

2. marked by richness and fullness of flavor

3. suggestive of sexual impropriety

4. designed or suitable for competing in a race

  Familiarity information: RACY used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RACY (adjective)

Comparative: racier   
Superlative: raciest   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Full of zest or vigor

Synonyms:

lively; racy

Context example:

a racy literary style

Similar:

spirited (displaying animation, vigor, or liveliness)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Marked by richness and fullness of flavor

Synonyms:

full-bodied; racy; rich; robust

Context example:

the robust flavor of fresh-brewed coffee

Similar:

tasty (pleasing to the sense of taste)

Derivation:

raciness (a strong odor or taste property)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Suggestive of sexual impropriety

Synonyms:

blue; gamey; gamy; juicy; naughty; racy; risque; spicy

Context example:

spicy gossip

Similar:

sexy (marked by or tending to arouse sexual desire or interest)

Derivation:

raciness (behavior or language bordering on indelicacy)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Designed or suitable for competing in a race

Similar:

mobile (moving or capable of moving readily (especially from place to place))

Derivation:

race (a contest of speed)

 Context examples 

As danger thickened his jaunty manner would increase, his speech become more racy, his cold eyes glitter into ardent life, and his Don Quixote moustache bristle with joyous excitement.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Surely the Mary Ann Wilson I have mentioned was inferior to my first acquaintance: she could only tell me amusing stories, and reciprocate any racy and pungent gossip I chose to indulge in; while, if I have spoken truth of Helen, she was qualified to give those who enjoyed the privilege of her converse a taste of far higher things.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Something of vengeance I had tasted for the first time; as aromatic wine it seemed, on swallowing, warm and racy: its after-flavour, metallic and corroding, gave me a sensation as if I had been poisoned.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

How I wish I could reproduce the glamour of his discourses, the peculiar mixture of accurate knowledge and of racy imagination which gave them their fascination, until even the Professor's cynical and sceptical smile would gradually vanish from his thin face as he listened.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I began to like New York, the racy, adventurous feel of it at night and the satisfaction that the constant flicker of men and women and machines gives to the restless eye.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)

When Michaelis's testimony at the inquest brought to light Wilson's suspicions of his wife I thought the whole tale would shortly be served up in racy pasquinade—but Catherine, who might have said anything, didn't say a word.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)