different between billowy vs floaty

English

Etymology

billow +? -y

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?b?.l??.(w)i/
• Rhymes: -?l??(w)i

Adjective

billowy (comparative billowier, superlative billowiest)

1. swelling or swollen into large waves; full of billows or surges; resembling billows.
   • 1919, W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence, chapter 58

     [...] Tiare clasped me to her vast bosom, so that I seemed to sink into a billowy sea, and pressed her red lips to mine.

Translations

References

• billowy in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

English

Etymology

float +? -y

Pronunciation

Adjective

floaty (comparative floatier, superlative floatiest)

1. buoyant, tending to float on a liquid or rise in air or gas
2. (of a dress) lightweight, so as to rise when the wearer is walking.
3. (music) light, hypnotic and relaxing.
4. Having a feeling of extreme calm, as if floating through the air.

Synonyms

• (lightweight, rising): billowy

Noun

floaty (plural floaties)

1. (informal) A lilo or similar item that floats on water and can be sat on.
   • 8 August 2018, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky in AV Club, Jason Statham fighting a giant shark should be a lot more fun than The Meg

     As an escaped megalodon swims close to a busy beach, we see humanity at its most chompable: chubby kids in floaties, doofuses on pontoons, some dork in a tight Speedo rolling around in one of those big inflatable Zorb balls. But alas, the movie is a gore-free PG-13, and though CGI has long since replaced animatronics as the monster movie’s weapon of choice, one thing hasn’t changed: giant killer fish still look like they’re made of rubber.

2. (informal) A particle of food, etc. found floating in liquid.
   • 2011, Judy Reiser, Admit It, You're Crazy!

     […] once the Oreos are gone I can't drink the milk with the floaties in it no matter how much milk is left.

   • 2012, Michael Thomas, Joy Thomas, The Quest For The Cold Soda (page 163)

     Ha, try backpacking sometime mister, we drink water that has dirt in it...I mean literally there is dirt in our water bladders (or other floaties like leaves) and we drink it no problem!