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clayey

clayey

6.8
Soil that is thick and sticky because it contains a lot of clay
  • adjective
  • /ˈkleɪ.i/
translation icon : arcilloso
  • Her entire skin is taupe, like dry, clayey earth, rough as sandpaper.
  • clayey soil

Examples

  • Hernandez, the cleaning man, wore his clayey, earthen aura.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • "The soils we have here at two ends of the island are very clayey," he explains.

    Academic text (1999)
  • Houston soils formed in clayey marine.

    Academic text (1998)
  • Like the images of the steep, clayey red slope down to the horizon, which the blind man born blind was getting ready to climb.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • Muttering under his breath, Worf began clawing at the damp, clayey soil.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Soils are clayey and sandy yellow latosols (see Lovejoy and Bierregaard 1990 for a more detailed description of the study area and ongoing research projects).

    Academic text (1992)
  • The garden's soil is very clayey, which is ideal for growing certain types of plants.

  • When it rains, the clayey ground becomes muddy and difficult to walk on.

  • They discovered that the clayey soil retained water well, benefiting their agricultural efforts.

Synonyms

claylike
vsclayey
1 3.4

Having a soft sticky texture like wet clay

is about containing that earthy material and soil characteristics
argillaceous
vsclayey
  • Specialized
9.9

A rock or soil that contains a lot of clay

is the common nontechnical term used for the same property
clayish
vsclayey
4.4

Has the feel of heavy, sticky soil that becomes soft when wet and is used to make pots

is a slightly more formal and precise term about soil composition

How Clayey

clayey
6.8
claylike
1 3.4

Surface Forms

clayey positive

Morphology

clayey = clay (transparent) = clay + ey

The suffix '-ey' regularly forms adjectives meaning 'containing or resembling' and the meaning is directly derived from 'clay'.

Etymology

Clayey comes from the simple word clay plus the ending -ey, which you can think of as meaning 'like' or 'full of' (as in snowy or muddy). So clayey describes soil that is 'full of clay' — heavy, sticky, and good at holding water, which is why clayey ground can be hard to work.