Daily Almanac for
Nov 8, 2009
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Sy



Pronunciation: (sī), [key]
—n.
a male given name, form of Seymour, Simon, or Silas.

sy-




var. of syn- before s followed by a consonant and before z: systaltic; syzygy.

-sy




a suffix forming nouns or adjectives, sometimes a diminutive of the base word and usually confined to informal and jocular use (bitsy; footsie; halvsies); adjectives formed with -sy may be ironic, implying that the quality in question is self-consciously assumed or feigned (artsy; cutesy; folksy). The combination of -s 3 and -y 1 or -y 2 in certain words (antsy; gutsy) should perhaps be considered further instances of this suffix.

Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.

swySybaris
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