downy

From down +‎ -y.

• IPA^(key): /ˈdaʊni/
• Rhymes: -aʊni
• Homophone: Downie

downy (comparative downier, superlative downiest)

1. Having down, covered with a soft fuzzy coating as of small feathers or hair.

   The chick's downy coat of feathers formed almost immediately to keep it warm.

2. Sharp-witted, perceptive.
   • 1947, Sir David Maxwell Fyfe, Speech in UK House of Commons, 10th November 1947:

     The right hon. Gentleman has much more claim to the adjective downy than I have, but he really cannot catch me with that one.

   • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 10, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

     I’m not clever, p’raps: but I am rather downy; and partial friends say I know what’s o’clock tolerably well.

3. (UK, Norfolk) Low-spirited; down in the mouth.

downy (plural downies)

1. A blanket filled with down; a duvet.
   • 2013, Dorothy M. Jensen, The Little Girl From 311 Travis Street, page 246:

     Went to bed with 2 downies on the bed, but the heat finally kicked in and ended with one cover and my feet sticking out.