clammy
/ˈklæmi/ adjective
Forms clammier clammiest
- adjective Cold and damp, usually referring to hands or palms. “His hands were clammy from fright.”
- adjective (medicine) The quality of normal skin signs, epidermis that is neither diaphoretic nor dry.
Synonyms
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.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Having the quality of being viscous or adhesive; soft and sticky; glutinous; damp and adhesive, as if covered with a cold perspiration.
Etymology [Cf. AS. clam clay. See Clam to clog, and cf. Clay.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “clammy”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details