English

Alternative forms

• doozie
• duesy

Noun

doozy ‎(plural doozies)

1. (US) something that is extraordinary. Often used in the context of troublesome, difficult or problematic, but can be used positively as well.

   Most of the test was easy, but the last question was a doozy.

Synonyms

• lulu

Adjective

doozy ‎(not generally comparable, comparative doozier, superlative dooziest)

1. (slang, dated) Of high quality; remarkable; excellent. [1903]
   • 1903, Alfred Leon Kleberg, Slang Fables from Afar, page 83:

     As soon as the races were billed he began to evolve Schemes — one Doozy scheme followed the other...

   • 2011, “Feeling Pinkie Keen”, in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic:

     The hydra wasn't the doozy? How could it not be the doozy? What could be doozier than that?

2. (slang, US, archaic) Sporty, ostentatious, flashy. [1911]
   • 1917, Elsie Warnock, “Terms of approbation and eulogy in American dialect speech”, in Dialect Notes, volume IV, page 21:

     Who was that doozy fellow I saw you with?

   • 1920, Jane Barrett, “English review”, in High School Life, volume 21, page 531:

     Sweetie, do let me show you the dooziest little afternoon frock that Poiret designed for me in Paris.

References

• "Doozy" in Michael Quinion, Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds, 2004.
• "Doozy" in J.E. Lighter, Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang volume 1, 1994.