different between glossy vs glassy

English

Etymology

gloss +? -y

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??l?si/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /??l?si/
• (cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA^(key): /??l?si/
• Rhymes: -?si, -??si

Adjective

glossy (comparative glossier, superlative glossiest)

1. Having a smooth, silk-like, reflective surface.

Antonyms

• matte

Translations

Noun

glossy (plural glossies)

1. (chiefly Britain, informal) A glossy magazine.

   The supermarket glossies are full of celebrity gossip and fad diets.

2. (informal) A glossy photograph.
   • 2013, Stacy Zemon, The DJ Sales and Marketing Handbook

     Black and white 8- × 10-inch glossies are best, but 5- × 7-inch is okay too. Place photos on top of cardboard when mailing. Don't tape or paper-clip because doing so can ruin the photo.

3. (film, informal) A film depicting people with glamorous lifestyles.
   • 1959, Film Review (page 102)

     Anna Magnani has been making Hollywood glossies recently, so it was good to see her back again in a native Italian production, The Last Temptation, in which with great artistry and all her usual power she played a Nun who finds a woman's and even a mother's heart beating strongly beneath her 'sister's' habit.

   • 1973, Films and Filming (volume 20, page 10)

     […] the first home-made guide to TV films by which is meant old films shown on the box, not those new Hollywood glossies made specially for it (though a guide there too would soon be welcome).

English

Etymology

From Middle English glasy, equivalent to glass +? -y. Compare Saterland Frisian glääsich (“glassy”), Dutch glazig (“glassy”), German Low German glasig (“glassy”), German glasig (“glassy”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?l??si/

• Rhymes: -??si

• (US) IPA^(key): /?læsi/

• Rhymes: -æsi

Adjective

glassy (comparative glassier, superlative glassiest)

1. Of or like glass, especially in being smooth and somewhat reflective.
2. Including a lot of glass.
3. Dull; expressionless.

   the glassy eyes of a person in a trance

4. (surfing, of water, not comparable) Lacking any chop; smooth and mostly flat.

Derived terms

• glassily
• glassiness

Translations

Noun

glassy (plural glassies)

1. (Ulster) Glass marble.

Alternative forms

• glasser