English

Adjective

owly ‎(comparative owlier, superlative owliest)

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. Seeing poorly.
   • 1908, Vernon L. Kellogg, "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