Standard Lemma guide

balmy

adj · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈbɑːmi/
  • British, Southern, Standard: /ˈbɑːmɪj/
  • US: /ˈbɑmi/
  • US: /ˈbɔmi/
  • US: /ˈbɑlmi/
  • Australian, New-Zealand: /bɐːmi/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Scotland: /ˈbame/
  • Scotland: /-mɪ/
  • Scotland: /-mi/
  • rhymes with -ɑːmi
  • rhymes with -ɑːlmi
  • CMU ARPABET: B AA1 M IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Producing balm.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Soothing or fragrant.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Of weather, mild and pleasant.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adj

Meaning 4

Foolish; slightly crazy or mad; eccentric.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US, informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: barmy

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective satellite

Meaning 5

mild and pleasant

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • balmy days and nights
  • the climate was mild and conducive to life or growth
  • a soft breeze

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: mild, soft

Antonyms: none provided

6

adjective satellite

Meaning 6

informal or slang terms for mentally irregular

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • it used to drive my husband balmy

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: barmy, bats, batty, bonkers, buggy, cracked, crackers, daft, dotty, fruity, haywire, kooky, kookie, loco, loony, loopy, nuts, nutty, round the bend, around the bend, wacky, whacky

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From balm + -y. Doublet of balsamic.

Across languages

Translations

54 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: ароматичен (aromatičen) — soothing or fragrant
  • Bulgarian: уханен (uhanen) — soothing or fragrant
  • Czech: vonný — soothing or fragrant
  • Danish: balsamisk — soothing or fragrant
  • Finnish: leppoisa — soothing or fragrant
  • Finnish: rauhoittava — soothing or fragrant
  • Finnish: tuoksuva — soothing or fragrant
  • French: embaumant — soothing or fragrant
  • French: suave — soothing or fragrant
  • German: lindernd — soothing or fragrant
  • German: mildernd — soothing or fragrant
  • German: sanft — soothing or fragrant
  • Hungarian: balzsamos — soothing or fragrant
  • Hungarian: illatos — soothing or fragrant
  • Irish: balsamach — soothing or fragrant
  • Old Irish: balsamach — soothing or fragrant
  • Polish: balsamiczny — soothing or fragrant
  • Polish: kojący — soothing or fragrant
  • Russian: арома́тный (aromátnyj) — soothing or fragrant
  • Russian: благоуханный (blagouxannyj) — soothing or fragrant
  • Scottish Gaelic: cùbhraidh — soothing or fragrant
  • Tamil: குணப்படுத்தத் தக்க (kuṇappaṭuttat takka) — soothing or fragrant
  • Tamil: மென்மையான (meṉmaiyāṉa) — soothing or fragrant
  • Bulgarian: мек (mek) — mild and pleasant
  • Bulgarian: нежен (nežen) — mild and pleasant
  • Chinese Mandarin: 温暖惬意的 — mild and pleasant
  • Czech: vlahý — mild and pleasant
  • Danish: balsamisk — mild and pleasant
  • Finnish: leppeä — mild and pleasant
  • Finnish: lempeä — mild and pleasant
  • Finnish: leuto — mild and pleasant
  • French: doux — mild and pleasant
  • French: agréable — mild and pleasant
  • German: mild — mild and pleasant
  • German: sanft — mild and pleasant
  • Hungarian: balzsamos — mild and pleasant
  • Hungarian: enyhe — mild and pleasant
  • Irish: balsamach — mild and pleasant
  • Irish: séimh — mild and pleasant
  • Māori: tūāhuru — mild and pleasant
  • Polish: łagodny — mild and pleasant
  • Russian: не́жный (néžnyj) — mild and pleasant
  • Bulgarian: смахнат (smahnat) — colloquial: foolish
  • Czech: trhlý — colloquial: foolish
  • Czech: střelený — colloquial: foolish
  • Finnish: hämy — colloquial: foolish
  • French: cintré — colloquial: foolish
  • French: fou — colloquial: foolish
  • French: bizarre — colloquial: foolish
  • Hungarian: bolondos — colloquial: foolish
  • Hungarian: hóbortos — colloquial: foolish
  • Polish: stuknięty — colloquial: foolish
  • Polish: zbzikowany — colloquial: foolish
  • Polish: zwariowany — colloquial: foolish