oozy

Oozy is an English adjective used to describe substances, surfaces, or appearances that ooze or are like ooze. It conveys a sense of slow leakage, dampness, and a viscous, sticky texture. The term is commonly applied to materials that are soft, gelatinous, and capable of seeping or flowing gradually through gaps or pores.

Etymology and usage context: Ooze is the base noun meaning a viscous liquid or the act of seeping. The suffix -y turns the noun into an adjective, yielding oozy to express the quality of being full of ooze or prone to oozing. Because it can imply a mood or atmosphere as well as a physical texture, oozy is more informal and evocative than precise technical terms. In scientific writing, terms like viscous, gelatinous, or slimy are preferred, while oozy appears in descriptive prose or journalism.

Contexts and examples: In everyday language, one might describe mud, mud-brick walls, or slime as oozy. In fiction and media, oozy surfaces or creatures evoke damp, unsettling imagery—such as a cave wall slick with ooze or a monster dripping with oozy slime. The word can also describe liquids within containers that leak slowly, staining the surroundings.

See also: ooze, viscous, gelatinous, slime.