leafy

English

Alternative forms

• leavy

Etymology

leaf +‎ -y

Pronunciation

• enPR: lēfʹē, IPA^(key): /ˈliːfi/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -iːfi

Adjective

leafy (comparative leafier, superlative leafiest)

1. covered with leaves

   leafy trees

2. containing much foliage

   a leafy avenue

3. in the form of leaves (of some material)
4. resembling a leaf
5. (of a place) wealthy, middle- or upper-class

   They live in a beautiful house in a leafy suburb.

   • 2008 January 23, Robert Syms, “Housing and Regeneration Bill: Exclusions from Subsidy Arrangements”, in parliamentary debates (House of Commons)‎, column 392:

     Those are not necessarily the leafiest areas. From the tenants of Durham, £1,671,546 was used to subsidise people elsewhere. I am not familiar with Durham, it may be a very leafy place in the north-east, but I suspect that there is a need for those funds.

   • 2014 July 21, Kyle Caldwell, “Income tax league table: the towns that pay the most and least tax in Britain”, in Daily Telegraph‎:

     Income tax payments cost the average British taxpayer £4,985 a year, but those who reside in the leafiest areas of the country pay three times this amount.

   • 2014 October 10, Fraser Nelson, “Clacton by-election: The Tories cannot fight for leafy areas and forget the poor”, in The Guardian‎:

     The Tories plan to give their all against the other Ukip defector, Mark Reckless, in the more prosperous Rochester & Strood next month. But this plays to the stereotype: Tories fighting for leafy areas, hiding from the poorer ones.

Synonyms

• (in the form of leaves (of some material)): foliated, laminate, layered

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

• Fayle, fayle