BALMY
What does "BALMY" mean?
Pleasantly warm and mild, especially of air or weather.
Meanings
- Of weather: pleasantly warm, soft, and mild. They dined outside on a balmy June evening.
- Soothing, fragrant, or healing, like balm. A balmy breeze carried the scent of jasmine. formal
- Slightly mad or foolish; eccentric. You'd have to be balmy to swim in that water. informal
Word origin
From 'balm', an aromatic healing ointment, from Old French 'basme', from Latin 'balsamum' (balsam); the 'mild weather' sense grew from the soothing quality of balm.
Remember it
BALMY = BALM + Y: weather as soothing as a healing balm on the skin.
A little poem
No edge to the air-
the night leans warm on your skin
and asks for nothing.
haiku
Wordplay
- The forecast said balmy, and the swimmer said you'd be balmy to go in - same weather, two very different warnings.
What it teaches
Comfort and recklessness share a word for a reason - mild weather is the easiest time to do something foolish.
Quick facts
What does BALMY mean?
Pleasantly warm and mild, especially of air or weather.
Is BALMY a valid word?
Yes — BALMY is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is BALMY?
BALMY has 5 letters and 2 syllables.
Where does BALMY come from?
From 'balm', an aromatic healing ointment, from Old French 'basme', from Latin 'balsamum' (balsam); the 'mild weather' sense grew from the soothing quality of balm.
What can BALMY teach us?
Comfort and recklessness share a word for a reason - mild weather is the easiest time to do something foolish.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.