clammy

English

Etymology

From Middle English clam (“viscous, sticky; slimy”) +‎ -y, from Old English clǣman (“to smear, bedaub”). Compare German klamm (“clammy”) and klemmen (“to be stuck, stick”). See also clam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈklæmi/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æmi

Adjective

clammy (comparative clammier, superlative clammiest)

1. Cold and damp, usually referring to hands or palms.

   His hands were clammy from fright.

2. (medicine) The quality of normal skin signs, epidermis that is neither diaphoretic nor dry.

Derived terms

• clammily
• clamminess
• unclammy

Translations

Cold and damp

• Bulgarian: студен и влажен (studen i vlažen)
• Finnish: nihkeä (fi)
• French: moite (fr)
• German: klamm (de)
• Japanese: じめじめ (ja)
• Maori: kūpiapia, haumotu
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: klam (no), fuktig

• Plautdietsch: feicht
• Russian: холо́дный (ru) (xolódnyj) и вла́жный (ru) (vlážnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: hladno i vlažno n