bloody

• bloudy (obsolete)
• bl**dy

From Middle English blody, blodi, from Old English blōdiġ, blōdeġ (“bloody”), from Proto-West Germanic *blōdag, from Proto-Germanic *blōþagaz (“bloody”), equivalent to blood +‎ -y. Cognate with Saterland Frisian bläidich, blöidig, blouderch (“bloody”), West Frisian bloedich (“bloody”), Dutch bloedig (“bloody”), German Low German blödig (“bloody”), German blutig (“bloody”), Danish blodig (“bloody”), Swedish blodig (“bloody”), Faroese blóðigur (“bloody”), Icelandic blóðugur (“bloody”). See Wikipedia for thoughts on sense evolution.

• IPA^(key): /ˈblʌ.diː/
• (India) IPA^(key): /ˈblɜ.ɖiː/
• (Northumbria) IPA^(key): /ˈblɪ.diː/
• Rhymes: -ʌdi

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (UK):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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bloody (comparative bloodier, superlative bloodiest)

1. Covered in blood.

   Synonyms: bleeding, bloodied, gory, sanguinolent

   All that remained of his right hand after the accident was a bloody stump.

   • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:

     And, as she fled, her mantle she did fall, / Which Lion vile with bloody mouth did stain.

   • 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 119:

     O Antony! Begge not your death of vs: / Though now we muſt appeare bloody and cruell, / As by our hands, and this our preſent Acte / You ſee we do: Yet ſee you but our hands, / And this, the bleeding buſineſſe they haue done:

2. Characterised by bloodshed.

   There have been bloody battles between the two tribes.

   • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii], page 336:

     Some bloody paſſion ſhakes your very Frame:

   • 1846 [1845], Frederick Douglass, chapter I, in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Boston: Anti-Slavery Office, page 8:

     I had therefore been, until now, out of the way of the bloody scenes that often occurred on the plantation.

   • 2007, Lucinda Mallows, Lucy Mallows, Slovakia: The Bradt Travel Guide, page 169:

     The story of Elizabeth Bathory is one of the bloodiest in history.

3. (informal, British, Ireland, Commonwealth, Hawaii, mildly vulgar) Used as an intensifier.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:damned

   Traffic in central London was a bloody mess this morning.

   • 1916 May 31, David Beatty during the Battle of Jutland:

     There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today.

   • 1994, Robert Jordan, Lord of Chaos, page 519:

     Try to keep those bloody women's bloody heads on their bloody shoulders by somehow helping them make this whole mad impossible scheme actually work.

   • 2003, Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, page 64:

     You are not to go asking anyone about who killed that bloody dog.

   • 2007, James MacFarlane, Avenge My Kin, Book 2: A Time of Testing, page 498

     “You bloody fool, I could′ve stabbed you in the heart,” David said in mock anger, and then smiled widely.

   • 2024 January 24, Dyan Perry talks to Nick Brodrick, “The industry has given me so much”, in RAIL, number 1001, page 45:

     With 109km of fixed infrastructure, of which only 50% is utilised, Perry's message is simple: "put more bloody trains on it!"

4. (dated) Badly behaved; unpleasant; beastly.
   • 1945, Evelyn Waugh, chapter 5, in Brideshead Revisited […], London: Chapman & Hall, published 1952, →OCLC, book 1 (Et in Arcadia Ego), pages 118–119:

     Come to apologize to Charles. I was bloody to him and he's my guest. He's my guest and my only friend and I was bloody to him.

As an intensifier in Commonwealth usage, bloody is sometimes considered a swear word, and it was formerly considered one of the strongest profanities in British English (approximately between 1750 and 1920). Its offensiveness decreased significantly over the 20th century, and a 2021 survey by OFCOM found most members of the British public considered it mild and "unlikely to cause concern in most circumstances".^[1]

bloody (comparative more bloody, superlative most bloody)

1. (informal, Australia, British, India, Ireland, Newfoundland, New Zealand, South Africa, mildly vulgar) Used to express anger, annoyance, or shock, or for emphasis.

   Synonyms: bloody well, bally, blasted, bleeding, blooming

   • 1912 (date written), [George] Bernard Shaw, “Pygmalion”, in Androcles and the Lion, Overruled, Pygmalion, London: Constable and Company, published 1916, →OCLC, Act III, page 153:

     Walk! Not bloody likely. [Sensation]. I am going in a taxi. [She goes out].

   • 1994, Robert Jordan, Lord of Chaos, page 109:

     "Dice are no bloody good," David said.

bloody (third-person singular simple present bloodies, present participle bloodying, simple past and past participle bloodied)

1. (transitive) To stain with blood.

   The butcher often bloodied his apron in the course of his work.

2. (transitive) To draw blood from (one's opponent) in a fight.
3. (transitive) To demonstrably harm (the cause of an opponent). (Can we add an example for this sense?)

bloody (plural bloodies)

1. (informal) Ellipsis of bloody mary.

• old boy