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Synonyms

palsy-walsy

American  
[pal-zee-wal-zee] / ˈpæl ziˈwæl zi /

adjective

Slang.

  1. friendly or appearing to be friendly in a very intimate or hearty way.

    The police kept their eye on him because he was trying to get palsy-walsy with the security guard.
palsy-walsy British  
/ ˈpælzɪˌwælzɪ /

adjective

  1. informal excessively friendly

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of palsy-walsy

First recorded in 1930–35; rhyming compound based on palsy 2

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Then they had to go ruin it all with that whole glasnost thing, the demolition of the Berlin Wall, and Gorbachev and Reagan getting all palsy-walsy.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 3, 2014

Ted greeted Manager Joe Cronin with a palsy-walsy "Hey, Scout!"

From Time Magazine Archive

Amid this heady stuff, Ball passed the word to Pakistan's President Mo hammed Ayub Khan that the U.S. hoped Pakistan would not carry its palsy-walsy campaign with Red China too far.

From Time Magazine Archive

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.