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poppy.

Any plant of the genus Papaver or the family Papaveraceae, with crumpled, often red, petals and a milky juice having narcotic properties; especially a common poppy or corn poppy (Papaver rhoeas) which has orange-red flowers; the flower of such a plant.

5 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈpɒpi/Received-Pronunciation/ˈpɑpi/General-American
  1. Any plant of the genus Papaver or the family Papaveraceae, with crumpled, often red, petals and a milky juice having narcotic properties; especially a common poppy or corn poppy (Papaver rhoeas) which has orange-red flowers; the flower of such a plant.

    countable · uncountable
  2. A bright red colour tinted with orange, like that of the common poppy flower.

    countable · uncountable
  3. A simple artificial poppy flower worn in a buttonhole or displayed in other contexts to remember those who died in the two World Wars and other armed conflicts, especially around Remembrance Day/Remembrance Sunday.

    Australia · Canada · UK · countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

PIE word *péh₂wr̥ The noun is derived from Late Middle English poppy, Middle English popy, popi, popie (“plant of the genus Papaver; poppy seeds used as a spice”) [and other forms], from Old English popiġ (“poppy”), Early Old English popeġ, popaeġ, popæġ, popei [and other forms], perhaps from Late Latin *papavum, popauer, from Latin papāver (“poppy”), which may be from a reduplication of Proto-Indo-European *péh₂wr̥ (“bonfire”). Doublet of papaver. Sense 3 (“artificial poppy flower to remember those who died in the two World Wars and other armed conflicts”) reflects the efforts of American professor and humanitarian Moina Michael (1869–1944) to popularize the wearing of artificial poppies in remembrance of those who fought and died in World War I; she was inspired by the poem “In Flanders Fields” (1915) by the Canadian poet and soldier John McCrae (1872–1918): see the quotation. The adjective is derived from the noun.

adj/ˈpɒpi/Received-Pronunciation/ˈpɑpi/General-American
  1. Of a bright red colour tinted with orange, like that of the common poppy flower (Papaver rhoeas).

    not-comparable
Where this word comes from

PIE word *péh₂wr̥ The noun is derived from Late Middle English poppy, Middle English popy, popi, popie (“plant of the genus Papaver; poppy seeds used as a spice”) [and other forms], from Old English popiġ (“poppy”), Early Old English popeġ, popaeġ, popæġ, popei [and other forms], perhaps from Late Latin *papavum, popauer, from Latin papāver (“poppy”), which may be from a reduplication of Proto-Indo-European *péh₂wr̥ (“bonfire”). Doublet of papaver. Sense 3 (“artificial poppy flower to remember those who died in the two World Wars and other armed conflicts”) reflects the efforts of American professor and humanitarian Moina Michael (1869–1944) to popularize the wearing of artificial poppies in remembrance of those who fought and died in World War I; she was inspired by the poem “In Flanders Fields” (1915) by the Canadian poet and soldier John McCrae (1872–1918): see the quotation. The adjective is derived from the noun.

adj/ˈpɒpi/Received-Pronunciation/ˈpɑpi/General-American
  1. Having a popping or bursting sound.

    informal
  2. Of a beverage: resembling soda pop; effervescent, fizzy.

    informal
  3. Of eyes: protruding, sticking out.

    informal
Where this word comes from

From pop (“loud, sharp sound; fizzy drink; to make or burst with a loud, sharp sound; to stand out”) + -y (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘having the quality of’).

adj/ˈpɒpi/Received-Pronunciation/ˈpɑpi/General-American
  1. Popular.

    dated · informal
  2. Typical of, or in the style of, pop music.

    informal
Where this word comes from

From pop(ular) + -y (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘having the quality of’).

noun/ˈpɒpi/Received-Pronunciation/ˈpɑpi/General-American
  1. One's father or grandfather, or a male authority figure having similar standing.

    endearing · informal
Where this word comes from

From pop (“affectionate form of father”) + -y (suffix forming terms of endearment).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.