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Glite Dictionary
filmy

filmy

4 5.8
A thin, light layer that is almost see-through
  • adjective
  • /ˈfɪlmi/
translation icon : translúcido
  • She wore a filmy dress that flowed gently in the evening breeze.
  • filmy curtains
  • a filmy dress
  • filmy eyes

The whites gossamer is a fine filmy substance consisting of cobwebs spun by small spiders.

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Examples

  • The moonlight in the high windows grew filmy with butterfly colors.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Jane was wearing a filmy robe, her auburn hair undone and flowing past her shoulders.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • So going to be quite a filmy sort of day.

  • And she wore a filmy veil on the back of her head.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • The breeze caught her long, filmy skirts against her legs.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • His face was filmy behind the gleam of the rolled-up window.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • Chloe wipes the filmy condensation off a spot on the window.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • I look up to see a strikingly beautiful black woman in a filmy cerise caftan.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Two Indian women cleverly bandaged in filmy cotton were washing piles of similar cotton wrappings.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • Elaborate fins, tapering away into filmy nothingness, billowed along its four-inch length.

    Fiction book (1994)

Synonyms

see-through
vsfilmy
14 3.9

Thin material that lets you see what is behind it

is thin and light but usually less fully transparent for viewing objects
sheer
vsfilmy
12 4.0

Very thin and almost see-through, like light fabric

is thin and light but not necessarily focused on complete transparency
gauzy
vsfilmy
7 6.7

Very thin and light, often letting light pass through like a curtain

is thin and light but does not imply an open woven texture
diaphanous
vsfilmy
4 9.6

Very light, delicate material that is almost transparent

is thin and light but focuses less on delicate quality
gossamer
vsfilmy
1 8.6

Very light and delicate like a thin cloth or spider web

is very thin and light but less extreme and more ordinary
gauze-like
vsfilmy
7.1

A very thin, light cloth that is almost see-through

is thin and light but focuses on a flat continuous thinness rather than woven openness
filmlike
vsfilmy
  • Specialized
5.4

A thin layer that forms on a surface

is thin and light but more about materials than surface residue or coating

Compounds

filmy fern
8.4

A tropical fern with very thin, see-through leaves that grows on trees or mossy banks

How Filmy

diaphanous
4 9.6
sheer
12 4.0
filmy
4 5.8
translucent
30 4.8
thin
420 1.0

Surface Forms

filmy positive

Morphology

filmy = film (transparent) = film + y

The adjective is directly formed from the noun 'film' with the productive adjectival suffix '-y', meaning 'having the quality of or like a film'.

Etymology

Filmy comes from the simple word film, which long ago meant a thin 'skin' or 'layer', and the ending -y turns a noun into 'like' that thing. So filmy is easy to remember as 'like a thin film'—thin, light, and almost see-through.