-y

a native english suffix of adjectives meaning “characterized by or inclined to” the substance or action of the word or stem to which the suffix is attached: juicy; grouchy; rumbly; dreamy. sometimes used to mean “allowing, fostering, or bringing about” the specified action:
sippy.
also, -ey1 .
-y2
a noun-forming suffix with a variety of functions in contemporary english, added to monosyllabic bases to create words that are almost always informal. its earliest use, probably still productive, was to form endearing or familiar names or common nouns from personal names, other nouns, and adjectives (billy; susie; birdie; doggie; granny; sweetie; tummy). the hypocoristic feature is absent in recent coinages, however, which are simply informal and sometimes pejorative (boonies; cabby; groupie; hippy; looie; okie; preemie; preppy; rookie). another function of -y2, (-ie) is to form from adjectives nouns that denote exemplary or extreme instances of the quality named by the adjective (baddie; biggie; cheapie; toughie), sometimes focusing on a restricted, usually unfavorable sense of the adjective (sharpie; sickie; whitey). a few words in which the informal character of -y2, (-ie) has been lost are now standard in formal written english (goalie; movie).
also, -ie.
compare -o, -sy.
origin
-y3
a suffix of various origins used in the formation of action nouns from verbs (inquiry), also found in other abstract nouns:
carpentry; infamy.
origin
-y1
suffix
(from nouns) characterized by; consisting of; filled with; relating to; resembling sunny, sandy, smoky, cl-ssy
(from verbs) tending to; acting or existing as specified leaky, shiny
word origin
from old english -ig, -ǣg
-y2
suffix (informal)
denoting smallness and expressing affection and familiarity a doggy, a granny, jamie
a person or thing concerned with or characterized by being a groupie, a fatty
word origin
c14: from scottish -ie, -y, familiar suffix occurring originally in names, as in jamie (james)
-y3
suffix
(from verbs) indicating the act of doing what is indicated by the verbal element inquiry
(esp with combining forms of greek, latin, or french origin) indicating state, condition, or quality geography, jealousy
word origin
from old french -ie, from latin -ia
-y
suffix in pet proper names (e.g. johnny, kitty), first recorded in scottish, c.1400; became frequent in eng. 15c.-16c. extension to surnames seems to date from c.1940. use with common nouns seems to have begun in scot. with laddie (1546) and become popular in eng. due to burns’ poems, but the same formation appears to be represented much earlier in baby and puppy.
-y
noun suffix, in army, city, country, etc., from o.fr. -e, l. -atus, -atum, pp. suffix of verbs of the first conjugation. in victory, history, etc. it represents l. -ia, gk. -ia.
-y
adj. suffix, “full of or characterized by,” from o.e. -ig, from p.gmc. –iga (cf. ger. -ig), cognate with gk. -ikos, l. -icus.
-ie
suffix

used to form adjectives having the quality indicated: comfy/ creepy/ sw-nky
used to form nouns
diminutive, affectionate, or familiar versions of what is indicated: auntie/ cubby/ thingy/ tootsie/ folksy
coming from the place or background indicated: arky/ okie/ yalie
a person of the sort indicated: weirdie/ hippy/ sharpy

-y
related terms

-ie