• floozy •
Pronunciation: flu-zee • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: A woman of ill-repute or a woman who dresses gaudily and in bad taste. (For more on pejorative terms for women, click here.)
Notes: Although the plural is floozies, spellcheckers frown upon spelling the singular of this word floozie. Pay no attention to other dictionaries that say this spelling is OK; use our singular and plural, and your spellchecker won't frown.
In Play: Anyone a man would think an easy woman qualifies as a floozy: "Who was that floozy I saw Phil Anders with last night?" "That was his wife." Oops! At least it wasn't his boss's wife. "Why are you looking for a wife among the floozies down at the bar when you could find the perfect one for you at an online matchmaker site?"
Word History: All dictionaries rightly declare that the origin of this word is unknown. I consider that a challenge to my speculative powers. Today's Good Word probably is a dialectal variation of flossy from floss, taken from French soie floche "floss-silk", from floche "down, velvet pile". However, when I was growing up, Flossy was a woman's name used mostly by people my mother wouldn't have wanted me to associate with. To get "all flossied up" means to overdress tastelessly, the way a loose woman might. I would find it hard to believe that floozy, often spelled floosy and floosie in the past, is not a dialectal variation of this word or just a facetious play on it. (Today we offer a nod of thanks to John Yates, who thought of this word during his quest to avoid floozies at all costs.)
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