''reedy'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260915190735-00-⌔

reedy - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Adjective

reedy (comparative reedier, superlative reediest)

• Full of, or edged with, reeds.
  • ✤ Coordinate terms: flaggy, rushy, sedgy
• (of a sound or voice) High and thin in tone.
  • ✤ “I’d Be Lost Without You” seems somewhat out of place from a vocal viewpoint — Lewis’s slightly reedy middle soprano is very expressive and absolutely true, but doesn’t have enough dark body to fully deal with the torchy melody.¹
• (of a person or a body part) Thin, slender
  • ✤ The 47-year-old former stockbroker admitted to his role in a case that ranks as one of America’s largest insurance frauds - one that began in Toledo in 1991 and ended with his arrest in a German hotel eight years later. Appearing pale and gaunt as he stood before Judge Ellen Burns, the reedy man in glasses admitted to 24 charges of fraud, conspiracy, and racketeering.²
  • ✤ Beth is a reedy woman with thick auburn hair and damp hazel eyes, snobbish about alma maters.³
  • ✤ He wasn’t a muscular guy. Like many Autistics, Trevor had a reduced muscle tone relative to most of the neurotypicals he knew. He walked with a hunched posture and had reedy upper arms. Big button-up shirts helped hide his uniquely Autistic body.⁴
• (metallurgy) Imperfectly welded together in masses of rods.
  • ✤ * reedy iron*

Etymology

From Middle English reedy, reedi, reeddy, equivalent to reed +‎ -y.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɹiː.di/
• Audio (Southern England): 🔊
• Rhymes: -iːdi

Printed 2026-09-15.

(echo:: @ ⌗)

Footnotes

1. 1989 August 12, Caroline Foty, “Hindsights”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 5, page 7: ↩

2. 2002 May 16, Michael D. Sallah, “Ex-financier Frankel pleads guilty to insurance-fraud scheme”, in The Blade ‎${}^{[1]}$, retrieved 8 April 2026: ↩

3. 2002 May 24, Ashley Shelby, “The Slam”, in Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood ‎${}^{[2]}$, retrieved 8 April 2026: ↩

4. 2022, Devon Price, chapter 5, in Michele Eniclerico, editor, Unmasking Autism, New York: Harmony Books, →ISBN, page 142: ↩