randy

12 synonyms for randy, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.

Adj — Feeling strong sexual desire; sexually aroused.

Synonyms

Everyday swaps

Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.

rude

Less common

Still standard English, but they carry more weight.

passionate ardent aroused coarse horny

Rare, literary or technical

Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.

amorous lustful frisky hot-blooded ruttish toey

How to use randy

The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.

feeling randy a randy old goat

The adjective sense is informal and mostly used in British English; in the US, Randy is almost always just heard as the given name, so context matters a lot.

Etymology

First use appears c. 1665 in a letter by the Earl of Argyll. From Scottish randy (“boisterous, aggressive”), of uncertain origin. Probably from rand (“to storm, rave”, verb), a variant of rant, see rant; or from rand (“edge”, noun), in the sense of "edgy, on edge", from Middle English rand (“edge, brink, margin, border...

Full origin of randy →

Frequently asked questions

Is the adjective randy formal or informal?

The adjective randy is informal and colloquial, so it is best avoided in formal or professional writing. It is chiefly used in British and Australian English.

What is the difference between randy the adjective and Randy the name?

Written in lowercase, randy is an informal adjective describing strong physical desire. Capitalised as Randy, it is a male given name, often a short form of Randall or Randolph.

What name is Randy a short form of?

Randy is commonly used as a short form of the male given names Randall and Randolph. It can also stand as a given name in its own right.

Is randy used the same way in British and American English?

As an informal adjective, randy is far more common in British and Australian English. In American English the word is mainly recognised as the personal name Randy, so speakers should be aware the adjective sense can cause confusion across dialects.

People also searched

rude passionate horny coarse aroused ardent toey lustful amorous frisky

Nearby words

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