groovy

English

Alternative forms

• groovey

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɹuvi/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːvi

Etymology 1

From groove +‎ -y.

Adjective

groovy (comparative groovier, superlative grooviest)

1. Of, pertaining to, or having grooves.

   The back of the tile was groovy so that it could hold the adhesive compound.

2. (dated) Set in one's ways.
   • 1909, Rudyard Kipling, The House Surgeon:

     She'd give anything to be able to believe it, but she's a hard woman, and brooding along certain lines makes one groovy.

Translations

having grooves

• German: rau (de)

Etymology 2

From the phrase in the groove, originally in reference to the grooves of an early phonograph record.

Adjective

groovy (comparative groovier, superlative grooviest)

1. (dated, slang) Cool, neat, interesting. [popular in the 1940s and again in the 1960s–1970s]
   • 1967, Brown, Joe David, ed, Time, inc, The Hippies‎^[1], New York, Time, →LCCN, →OCLC:

     The hippies do not often try to define the feelings they experience under the influence of psychedelic drugs. Generally they just say, "Oh, groovy, man," or simply, "Wow."

   • 1969, Groovy Guide to the Guys!‎^[2]:

     Basically Bobby’s just a hard-working, highly creative, friendly, groovy guy who’s got a lot of things he wants to do and is in a hurry to try them all.

   • 2012, Pat Monahan (Train), Drive By (song lyrics):

     When you move me, everything is groovy.

   • 2015 February 12, Tina Alexander, Daniel Baxter, “How X-Men: Days of Future Past Should Have Ended”, in How It Should Have Ended‎^[3], season 7, episode 3, spoken by Superman (Daniel Baxter), How It Should Have Ended, via YouTube:

     Well, I love it! Move really fast, reverse time, save everyone? That sounds groovy! I’m gonna have to try that some day!

2. (slang) Reminiscent of 1960s counterculture; hippie, psychedelic.
   • 2003 07, Leisure Arts, It's All in Your Imagination: How to Be Creative with Scrapbooking Papers and Embellishments, Leisure Arts, →ISBN, page 9:

     Groovy designs by Cyndi Bright and colorful 1960's-inspired papers and accessories, featuring plenty of mod flower, funky stickers, and new Spring colors.

   • 2012 May 24, Nathan Rabin, “Film: Reviews: Men In Black 3”, in The Onion AV Club‎^[4]:

     Men In Black 3 lacks the novelty of the first film, and its take on the late ’60s feels an awful lot like a psychedelic dress-up party, all broad caricatures and groovy vibes.

   • 2020 December 8, Michaelangelo Matos, Can't Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop's Blockbuster Year, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

     The exchange was not unlike a post-bop version of Alex P. Keaton, the Reaganite teenager played by Michael J. Fox on the NBC sitcom Family Ties, which debuted in 1982, at intellectual odds with his groovy hippie parents.

3. (music) Melodious, danceable; particularly of a riff or bassline.

Derived terms

• groovily
• grooviness
• supergroovy
• Vangroovy

Translations

cool, neat, interesting

• Bulgarian: отличен (bg) (otličen), превъзходен (bg) (prevǎzhoden)
• Catalan: genial (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 时髦 (zh) (shí máo)

• Czech: módní (cs), šik (cs), skvělý (cs), super (cs), boží (cs)
• Finnish: jännä (fi), mielenkiintoinen (fi)
• German: toll (de), fetzig (de), schick (de) (fashion)
• Italian: fico (it)
• Portuguese: bacana (pt)
• Russian: клёвый (ru) (kljóvyj)
• Spanish: bacán (es), macanudo (es), genial (es), guay (es)

Noun

groovy (plural groovies)

1. (dated, slang) A trendy and fashionable person.
   • 2002, Antonio Mendoza, “The Exterminating Angel”, in Teenage Rampage: The Worldwide Youth Crime Phenomenon, London: Virgin Books, →ISBN, page 77:

     He also stole a $100-dollar bill from his father's wallet and gave it to a couple of the other Goth kids. […] Nevertheless, all this didn't give him the social status he coveted from his gloomy groovies.