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Webster 1913 Edition


Shadowy

Shad′ow-y

,
Adj.
1.
Full of shade or shadows; causing shade or shadow.
Shadowy verdure.”
Fenton.
This
shadowy
desert, unfrequented woods.
Shakespeare
2.
Hence, dark; obscure; gloomy; dim.
“The shadowy past.”
Longfellow.
3.
Not brightly luminous; faintly light.
The moon . . . with more pleasing light,
Shadowy
sets off the face things.
Milton.
4.
Faintly representative; hence, typical.
From
shadowy
types to truth, from flesh to spirit.
Milton.
5.
Unsubstantial; unreal;
as,
shadowy
honor
.
Milton has brought into his poems two actors of a
shadowy

and fictitious nature, in the persons of Sin and Death.
Addison.

Webster 1828 Edition


Shadowy

SHAD'OWY

,
Adj.
1. Full of shade; dark; gloomy.
This shadowy desert, unfrequented woods. Shak.
2. Not brightly luminous; faintly light.
More pleasant light

Definition 2024


shadowy

shadowy

English

Adjective

shadowy (comparative shadowier, superlative shadowiest)

  1. In shadow; darkened by shadows.
    He sat in a shadowy corner.
  2. (of character) Dark, obscure.
    He was a shadowy man who rarely spoke.
    • 2011 December 19, Kerry Brown, “Kim Jong-il obituary”, in The Guardian:
      By 1980, South Korea had overtaken its northern neighbour, and was well on its way to being one of the Asian tigers – high-performing economies, with democratic movements ultimately winning power in the 1990s. The withdrawal of most Soviet aid in 1991, with the fall of the Soviet empire, pushed North Korea further down. Kim Il-sung had held a genuine place on North Korean people's affections. His son was regarded as a shadowy playboy, with rumours circulating over the years that he imported Russian and Chinese prostitutes, and lived a life of profligacy and excess.

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