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Owly vs Oily - What's the difference?

owly | oily |

As adjectives the difference between owly and oily

is that owly is resembling or characteristic of an owl while oily is relating to oil.

As a noun oily is

a marble with an oily lustre.

owly

English

Adjective

(er)
  • Resembling or characteristic of an owl.
  • * 2010 , (Tracy Chevalier), Remarkable Creatures , Dutton (2010), ISBN 9781101152454, page 48:
    • In the picture Miss Elizabeth showed me the croc had little piggy eyes, not huge owly ones.
  • In a bad mood; cranky.
  • * 1988 , (Janette Oke), Winter Is Not Forever , Bethany House Publishers (2010), ISBN 9780764208027, page 16:
    • I had no right to be owly and disagreeable with Willie.
  • Seeing poorly.
  • * 1908 , , "The Vendetta", in Insect Stories , Henry Holt and Company (1908), page 55:
    • Perhaps nice isn't the best word for him, but he certainly was an unusually imposing and fluffy-haired and fierce-looking brute of a tarantula. He had rather an owly way about him, as if he had come out from his hole too early and was dazed and half-blinded by the light.

    Synonyms

    * (like an owl) owlish, owllike, strigine * (in a bad mood) crabby, cranky, grumpy, ornery, out of sorts

    Derived terms

    * owliness * owly-eyed

    References

    * T. K. Pratt, Dictionary of Prince Edward Island English , University of Toronto Press (1988), ISBN 0802057810, pages 107-108 * The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia , The Century Co. (1897), Volume 5, page 265

    oily

    English

    Alternative forms

    * oyly (obsolete)

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Relating to oil.
  • Smeared with or containing oil.
  • (figuratively) Excessively friendly or polite so as to sound insincere.

    • Derived terms

    * smell of an oily rag

    Noun

    (oilies)
  • A marble with an oily lustre.
  • * 1998 , Joanna Cole, Stephanie Calmenson, Michael Street, Marbles: 101 ways to play
    • Lustered (also called lusters, rainbows, oilies , and pearls)
  • * 2001 , Paul Webley, The economic psychology of everyday life (page 39)
    • But marbles are not only used to play games: they are also traded. In this market, the value of the different kinds of marbles (oilies , emperors, etc.) is determined by local supply and demand and not by the price of the marbles
  • oilskins (waterproof garment)