clammy
pronunciation
How to pronounce clammy in British English:
UK [ˈklæmi]
How to pronounce clammy in American English:
US [ˈklæmi]
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- Adjective:
- unpleasantly cool and humid
Word Origin
- clammy
- clammy: [14] Etymologically, clammy means ‘sticky as if smeared with clay’. It comes from the now obsolete verb clam ‘smear, stick’. This goes back to Old English clǣman, a word of ancient ancestry: its prehistoric Germanic source was *klaimjan, a verb derived from *klaimaz ‘clay’; this was formed from the base *klai-, which is also the ultimate source of English clay and can be traced back to the Indo-European base *gloi-, *glei-, *gli-, from which English gets glue and gluten.=> clay, glue
- clammy (adj.)
- "soft and sticky," late 14c., probably from Middle English clam "viscous, sticky, muddy" (mid-14c.), from Old English clæm "mud, sticky clay," from Proto-Germanic *klaimaz "clay" (cognates: Flemish klammig, Low German klamig "sticky, damp," Old English clæman "to smear, plaster;" cognates: clay). With -y (2). Related: Clammily; clamminess.
Example
- 1. My heart rate had increased and my hands were clammy .
- 2. The symptoms include clammy skin , dizziness , a burning sensation in the chest and unexplained fatigued .
- 3. She gave a little shudder when she touched his clammy hand .
- 4. My heart thundered and my palms became clammy as I watched ryan took out a blade from his coat .
- 5. Clinics across africa witness the same tragedy : a limp child , clammy and cold to the touch , with a fast , weak pulse , is carried in by a distraught parent .