Skip to main content
drafty

drafty

15 2.4
A room or window that lets cold air in because it has gaps
  • adjective
  • /ˈdræfti/
  • US
translation icon : con corrientes de aire
  • In winter, this room feels especially drafty because the window doesn't close properly.

Like I have the most drafty loft in the whole wide world.

Examples

  • Why do you work in this drafty old castle, anyway?

    Fiction book (2002)
  • My mother did not like the house: it was old, drafty, and too far from the city.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • Well, at least it's not so drafty as that floor.

  • A little drafty, but, you know, it's nice.

  • Is it drafty up there?

  • Check the window if you find it's too drafty.

  • In a drafty room, a friendly retired man read us the procedures in detail from a prepared text.

    Academic text (2010)
  • Japanese people don't want to live in these old, drafty houses anymore.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • The nights get a little drafty here, that's all.

  • Anne pauses, all alone in the big, drafty chamber.

    Fiction book (1993)

Synonyms

chilly
vsdrafty
100 1.0

A bit cold in a way that feels uncomfortable

describes a gap that lets cold air in rather than the cold feeling
leaky
vsdrafty
26 1.5

Allowing liquid or gas to escape through holes and cracks

specifies cold air entering through gaps in rooms or windows
parky
vsdrafty
  • UK
9.1

Feeling quite cold, often said about the weather

relates to structural air leaks causing cold indoors rather than informal weather feeling

Antonyms

2.5

Closed and covered to stop water or air getting in

How Drafty

open
1.0
leaky
26 1.5
drafty
  • US
15 2.4
snug
28 1.4
sealed
2.5
airtight
19 3.9

Surface Forms

drafty positive

Morphology

drafty = draft (transparent) = draft + y

The adjective 'drafty' is clearly derived from 'draft' with the suffix '-y' indicating a characteristic.

Etymology

Drafty comes from the word draft, also spelled draught, meaning 'a current of air', plus the ending -y meaning 'full of'. So a drafty room is one that is 'full of' cold air moving in through gaps.