Word.ws English Dictionary

dewey

US/ˈduːi/

dewey is the obsolete form of dewy.

Meaning of dewy

Adjective

dewy (comparative dewier or more dewy, superlative dewiest or most dewy)

  1. Covered by dew.
    • His mildly vivid dewy beam
      Of beryl to diffuse: the gleam
      With elf-light tiniest figures lit
      Of shapely moon-fair elves who sit
      Each on a gemmy blade's curled tip
      In circle.1863, Roden Noel, Behind the Veil: And Other Poems, London: Macmillan and Co., page 149
    Synonyms:
    bedewed, rory, roric, rorid, roscid
  2. Having the quality of bearing droplets of water.
    • In the dewy fog, it was cold and damp.
  3. Resembling or characteristic of dew.
  4. Fresh and innocent.
    • Thy dewy looks sink in my breast
      Thy gentle words stir poison there;1814, 16 March, Percy Bysshe Shelley letter to Hogg, Thy Gentle Face

Noun

dewey (plural deweys)

  1. (US, humorous, slang, uncommon) A charge of DUI.

Proper noun capitalized: Dewey

Dewey

  1. A surname from Old French.
  2. A male given name transferred from the surname, of 1890s American usage.
  3. A part of Dewey-Humboldt, Yavapai County, Arizona, previously unincorporated.
  4. A ghost town in Owyhee County, Idaho.
  5. A census-designated place in East Bend Township, Champaign County, Illinois.
  6. An unincorporated community in Harrison Township, Vigo County, Indiana.
  7. A ghost town in Polk County, Missouri, named after George Dewey.
  8. A census-designated place in Beaverhead County, Montana.
  9. A city in Washington County, Oklahoma, named after George Dewey.
  10. An unincorporated community in Custer County, South Dakota.
  11. A ghost town in Grand County, Utah.
  12. An unincorporated community in Skagit County, Washington.
Show 4 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. A town in Burnett County, Wisconsin.
  2. A town in Portage County, Wisconsin, named after George Dewey.
  3. A town in Rusk County, Wisconsin.
  4. An unincorporated community in the town of Superior, Douglas County, Wisconsin.

Forms of dewey

Adjective
comparativemore dewey
superlativemost dewey
Noun
pluraldeweys
Proper noun
alternative formDuey

Origin of dewey

A phonetic pronunciation of the initialism DUI, particularly in some rural areas of the US.

Possibly from a place name in Northern France, Douai. Welsh origin from Dewi (David) has also been suggested.

Words formed from dewey

Phrases with dewey

Words that rhyme with dewey

16 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about dewey

What does dewey mean?
Dewey means a charge of DUI.
What is dewey the obsolete form of?
Dewey is the obsolete form of dewy.
What part of speech is dewey?
Dewey can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce dewey?
Dewey is pronounced /ˈduːi/ (US).
What is the plural of dewey?
The plural of dewey is deweys.

Words near dewey in the dictionary

  1. dewesternizing
  2. dewet
  3. dewets
  4. dewetted
  5. dewetting
  6. dewey
  7. Dewey County
  8. Dewey Decimal Classification
  9. Dewey Decimal System
  10. Dewey Decimal Systems
  11. Dewey, Cheatem and Howe

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dewey (page history and authors); Dewey (page history and authors); dewy (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “dewey.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dewey. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.