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Groovy vs Swish - What's the difference?

groovy | swish |

As adjectives the difference between groovy and swish

is that groovy is of, pertaining to, or having grooves or groovy can be (dated|slang) cool, neat, interesting, fashionable while swish is (british|colloquial) sophisticated; fashionable; smooth.

As a noun swish is

a short rustling, hissing or whistling sound, often made by friction.

As a verb swish is

to make a rustling sound while moving.

groovy

English

Alternative forms

* groovey

Etymology 1

Adjective

(er)
  • Of, pertaining to, or having grooves.
  • The back of the tile was groovy so that it could hold the adhesive compound.
  • (dated) Set in one's ways.
  • * (Rudyard Kipling)
  • She'd give anything to be able to believe it, but she's a hard woman, and brooding along certain lines makes one groovy .

    Etymology 2

    From the phrase in the groove , ultimately from the grooves of an early phonograph record.

    Adjective

    (er)
  • (dated, slang) Cool, neat, interesting, fashionable.
  • "Wow, man! This psychedelic wallpaper is totally groovy ! " said the hippie.
    "Have a groovy day, dudes. " said the surfer in his latest movie.
    ''Marching around the hallways of school while making a racket, the drummer in the marching band said, "60s music is very groovy! "
  • *{{quote-news
  • , year=2012 , date=May 24 , author=Nathan Rabin , title=Film: Reviews: Men In Black 3 , work=The Onion AV Club citation , page= , passage=Men In Black 3 lacks the novelty of the first film, and its take on the late ’60s feels an awful lot like a psychedelic dress-up party, all broad caricatures and groovy vibes.}}
    Derived terms
    * grooviness

    References

    * OED 2nd edition 1989

    swish

    English

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • (British, colloquial) sophisticated; fashionable; smooth.
  • This restaurant looks very swish — it even has linen tablecloths.
  • Attractive, stylish
  • * 2014 , , " Southampton hammer eight past hapless Sunderland in barmy encounter", The Guardian , 18 October 2014:
  • The Saints, who started the day third in the table, went marching on thanks to their own swish play and some staggering defending by the visitors.
  • effeminate.
  • Noun

    (es)
  • A short rustling, hissing or whistling sound, often made by friction.
  • A sound of liquid flowing inside a container.
  • *1898 , , (Moonfleet) Chapter 4
  • *:There were four or five men in the vault already, and I could hear more coming down the passage, and guessed from their heavy footsteps that they were carrying burdens. There was a sound, too, of dumping kegs down on the ground, with a swish of liquor inside them, and then the noise of casks being moved.
  • A movement of an animal's tail
  • A twig or bundle of twigs, used for administering beatings; a switch
  • (basketball) A successful basketball shot that does not touch the rim or backboard.
  • An effeminate male homosexual.
  • Verb

    (es)
  • To make a rustling sound while moving.
  • The cane swishes .
  • To flourish with a swishing sound.
  • to swish a cane back and forth
    (Coleridge)
  • (transitive, slang, dated) To flog; to lash.
  • (Thackeray)
  • (basketball) To make a successful basketball shot that does not touch the rim or backboard.
  • (gay slang) To mince or otherwise to behave in an effeminate manner.
  • I shall not swish ; I'll merely act limp-wristed.