billowy means swelling or swollen into large waves; full of billows or surges; resembling billows.
billowy is pronounced /ˈbɪ.ləʊ.(w)i/.
Why “billowy” is a great word
Describing something that swells and surges with the rolling motion of a great wave, or possesses a full, undulating appearance. From billow (meaning a large wave or swell of water) + the adjectival suffix -y; first recorded in English use c. 1610. Unlike “wavy,” which suggests a regular, smaller-scale series of curves, or “puffy,” which implies a soft, inflated roundness, “billowy” conveys a sense of massive, surging volume and majestic motion. It is the sight of acres of ripe wheat moving in a slow, oceanic heave; it is the voluptuous, rolling smoke from a lone chimney; it is the silent, wave-like collapse of a vast linen sheet shaken out—the terrestrial world briefly mimicking the sea’s deep, rhythmic breath.
adj
- Swelling or swollen into large waves; full of billows or surges; resembling billows.e.g.“He was shabby and careless, with inkstains on the sleeves of his jacket, and his cravat was large and billowy, under a chin shaped like the toe of an old boot.”
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