Moony

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Having a whimsical or dreamy quality reminiscent of the moon while also exhibiting traits that are surreal or otherworldly in nature
2. Characterized by a dreamy, inattentive state of mind ; having qualities that evoke the appearance or essence of the moon
3. Showing a tendency to be lost in thought or distracted ; bearing resemblance to the moon in brightness, shape, or mood

Etymology: "Moony" is about as plain as English word-building gets: the noun "moon" with the suffix "-y," which turns a noun into an adjective meaning "full of" or "having the qualities of." The moon itself traces back through Old English "mōna" and Proto-Germanic "mēnô" to very old Indo-European roots, so the core of the word has been in the language for well over a thousand years. The suffix does the interesting work here. The "-y" ending, descended from an Old English "-ig," appears in countless everyday words such as "sunny," "windy," and "milky," and in each case it describes something that carries a quality tied to its base noun. "Moony" therefore began as a plain description of something lunar-like or moonlit, and the dreamy, whimsical, or surreal senses in the current definition grew out of that literal starting point rather than being part of the word from the beginning.

Synonyms: lunar, dreamy, delirious

Antonyms: rational, sober, clear-headed