different between blustery vs rainy

English

Etymology

bluster +? -y

Adjective

blustery (comparative more blustery, superlative most blustery)

1. Blowing in loud and abrupt bursts.

   Synonyms: blusterous, gusty

   Currently, there are blustery winds blowing in Patagonia.

   • 1920, Clara Ingram Judson, Mary Jane’s City Home, New York: Barse & Hopkins, “Lost—One Doll Cart,” p. 117,^[1]

     Fortunately, that May morning was bright and sunny; the breeze blew warm from the southland instead of cold and blustery from the lake, and it was the very best kind of a morning possible for being out of doors.

   • 1957, Bernard Malamud, The Assistant, New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, Chapter 1, p. 8,^[2]

     He wished fleetingly that he could once more be out in the open, as when he was a boy—never in the house, but the sound of the blustery wind frightened him.

2. Accompanied by strong wind.

   Synonyms: blowy, blusterous, breezy, squally, stormy, tempestuous, windy

   Today is such a cold blustery day!

   • 1918, Willa Cather, My Ántonia, Introduction,^[3]

     […] blustery winters with little snow, when the whole country is stripped bare and gray as sheet-iron.

   • 1999, Colm Tóibín, The Blackwater Lightship, New York: Scribner, Chapter , p. 88,^[4]

     The drizzle became blustery rain as she approached Curracloe.

3. (of a person) Pompous or arrogant, especially in one's speech; given to outbursts.

   Synonyms: blustering, blusterous, swaggering

   • 1858, Thomas Carlyle, History of Friedrich II of Prussia, London: Chapman and Hall, Volume 1, Book 3, Chapter 12, pp. 295-296,^[5]

     Duke Wilhelm […] seems to have been of a headlong, blustery, uncertain disposition; much tossed about in the controversies of his day.

   • 1930, Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon, New York: Knopf, Chapter 1,^[6]

     He talks in a rather loud, blustery way and has a nervous, irritable manner.

   • 1937, Lloyd C. Douglas, Forgive Us Our Trespasses, London: Peter Davies, Chapter 16, p. 290,^[7]

     Uncle Miles wished only to dodge the issue that had hurled them apart, offering an effusive and blustery hospitality as an alternative to the air-clearing discussion which the situation so urgently called for.

   • 1989, Shashi Tharoor, The Great Indian Novel, New York: Arcade, 2011, Chapter 22,^[8]

     Vayu was a large, strong, blustery character, full of drive and energy but mercurial in temperament.

Related terms

• blustering
• blusterous

Translations

English

Etymology

From Middle English reyny, from Old English *re?ni?, r?ni? (“rainy”), from Proto-Germanic *regnagaz (“rainy”), equivalent to rain +? -y.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??e?ni/
• Rhymes: -e?ni

Adjective

rainy (comparative rainier, superlative rainiest)

1. Pouring with rain; wet; showery

   Due to the rainy weather, we decided not to play in the park.

   It's a very rainy day, so let's stay indoors.

Derived terms

• raininess
• rainy day

Translations