googly
US/ˈɡuɡli/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Australia/ˈɡʉːɡli/
googly noun: a ball, bowled by a leg-break bowler, that spins from off to leg (to a right-handed batsman), unlike a normal leg-break delivery.
Noun
googly (plural googlies)
Adjective
googly (comparative googlier, superlative googliest)
- Bulging.
- “A shtinker,” the bug-eyed man said more loudly. […]“B'seder, fine, a shtinker rabbi,” the googly-eyed man amended, rubbing his lower gut. “But can’t you tell he’s an informer?”2013, Ruchama King Feuerman, In the Courtyard of the Kabbalist, page 208
- Appearing to be amorous, flirtatious.
- ‘Torture my foot! You think it’s torture for a man to ask his wife for attention? God save me from stupid women!’ – my father limped downstairs to make googly eyes at Colaba girls.1981, Salman Rushdie, Midnight’s Children, page 131
- “Attractive enough? You should see how the mothers here act around him.” She sighed. “Everyone goes all googly when he’s around.”2012, Elizabeth Harbison, Drive Me Wild, Harlequin
Examples of googly in a sentence
- Fred bowled me a googly when he asked me to explain those statistics in the meeting.
- He didn't pick the googly, and was bowled.
- "Because they make googly eyes at each other across the table.
Synonyms of googly
Forms of googly
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | googlies |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | googlier |
| superlative | googliest |
Origin of googly
Unknown; perhaps derived from googie (“an egg, in reference to the unusual direction of bounce”). Though the delivery was perfected and made famous by English cricketer Bernard Bosanquet, circa 1900, the term is recorded earlier in Australian English (1896).
Uncertain. Perhaps from goo-goo (“amorous”), or directly from goggle. Attested from 1901.
Words formed from googly
Phrases with googly
Questions about googly
- What does googly mean?
- Googly means a ball, bowled by a leg-break bowler, that spins from off to leg (to a right-handed batsman), unlike a normal leg-break delivery.
- What part of speech is googly?
- Googly can be a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce googly?
- Googly is pronounced /ˈɡʉːɡli/ (Australia).
- What is the plural of googly?
- The plural of googly is googlies.
Words near googly in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: googly (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:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-googly.ogg.
Cite this entry: “googly.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/googly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.