🧑 A civilian 👕 Not military

civvy

8.5

Relating to ordinary life and clothes, not military

adjective
/ˈsɪvi/

Jargon

: civil

She prefers to wear civvy clothes instead of her military uniform on weekends.

Examples

The officers transitioned back to civvy life upon completing their military service.
After serving in the army, he enjoyed the freedom of civvy life.
He ran a coffee stall in civvy street, but the black-out beat him.

Nine Men (1943)

Synonyms

civilian

vscivvy

505 3.5

Relating to life and people not in the army or police

focuses on ordinary life and clothing rather than on membership status

Antonyms

military

∞ 2.5

Relating to soldiers or the armed forces

How Civilian

civvy

Jargon

8.5

paramilitary

Literature

14 8.0

military

∞ 2.5

Surface Forms

civvy positive

Morphology

civvy = civilian (transparent) = civ + y

The slang 'civvy' is a clipped/informal form of 'civilian', so the relation to the base word and the informal '-y' formation is clear.

Etymology

Civvy comes from a short, friendly form of civilian, which means 'not military'. So civvy used before a noun (as in 'civvy life' or 'civvy clothes') points to life or clothes for someone who is not in the armed forces.