hatty

From hat +‎ -y.

hatty (comparative hattier, superlative hattiest)

1. Of, relating to, or resembling, a hat.
   • 1850, London Charivari, volume 19, page 156:

     Every one agrees that there ought to be a reform in Hats […] A proclamation could never accomplish a hatty reform; but we are not prepared to say something might not be done by shrieval interference, which would be consistent with those municipal Institutions that all Englishmen cherish.

   • 1996, Russell Grant, Russell Grant's Book of Birthdays, page 25:

     Expect a hat which fits the size of your head – it's a very hatty date .

   • 2013, Molly Keane, Loving Without Tears:

     The window curtains were milky white, but over-hatted in the hattiest pelmets imaginable.

   • 2013, Cheryl Ainsworth Martin, Hatty Birthday, page 9:

     Everyone will see my hat collections! Today is the day! It will be a Hatty Birthday!

2. (of a hat) Having the features one expects of a hat.
   • 1942, Michael Amrine, All Sons Must Say Goodbye, page 9:

     He saw a hat, and a most hatty hat, a piece of green felt, shaped with leather and cloth, combining in itself all the quintessentials of hatness contained in all the hats ever made.

   • 1957, Millie Toole, Mrs. Bessie Braddock, M. P.: A Biography, page 210:

     She should be very happy with the new hatty hats, but she should wear them at a slight angle.

   • 2017, Work Projects Administration, The Voices From The Past:

     Dey not only made our clo's, but also made out hats. Of co'se dey wa'n't very hatty, but was mo' cappy.

   • 2021, Nadine Stewart, American Milliners and their World, page 166:

     Many of the hattier hats, believe me, were downright gruesome.

3. (of a person) Fond of hats.
   • 1851, “All Round The Lord Mayor's Hat.”, in Punch, Or, The London Charivari, volume 20, page 220:

     We must confess that we never yet heard of such a very hatty Lord Mayor , though we have frequently heard of a Hatti-Sheriff.

   • 1930, A. A. Milne, Mr Pim:

     Never mind about the top-hat. We aren't hatty people.

   • 2013, Anna Blair, Tea at Miss Cranston's:

     Mother was a wee bit hatty and she got the milliner in Clarkston Road to line our straw hats with pink silk, and put daisies round them.

4. Characterized by the wearing of hats.
   • 1897, “Our London Letter”, in The English Illustrated Magazine, volume 17, page 222:

     London remains the hattiest city in the world, and yet in this year of celebrations it has let Paris glorify the birth of the beaver.

   • 1967, English Review - Volume 1, page 524:

     They all sat about in the summer-house and in garden-chairs, and were very hatty and ruffly and sunshadey: Three ladies and the curate played croquet with a general immense gravity broken by occasional loud cries of feigned distress from the curate.

   • 1983, Pat Phoenix, Love, Curiosity, Freckles, and Doubt, page 181:

     The first time it happened we were at some big soirée, full of respectable, hatty ladies.

   • 2019, Kerry Taylor, Galliano: Spectacular Fashion:

     In addition, Stephen Jones produced seven hats and, as the show was only eighteen looks, it was, he said, “fairly hatty”.

hatty (plural hatties)

1. (India, obsolete) Alternative form of hathi (“an elephant”)
   • 1860, Henry Astbury Leveson, The Hunting Grounds of the Old World, page 245:

     […] the credit of it, if any there be, must be given to old Purdey, the maker of your rifle; for never do I think that grooved bore threw lead so true, and I now do not wonder at your luck in bringing down the hatties (elephants) right and left.

   • 1870, The Oriental Sporting Magazine, volume 3, page 1197:

     Several herds of wild buffaloes were met on our way , but as our hatties, as well as the drivers, were too done up, we allowed them to pass unmolested.

• Hyatt