Pronunciation: [hˈe͡əɹi] (IPA) 
The word "hairy" is spelled with a "h" at the beginning of the word followed by an "ai" dipthong, which sounds like the long "e" vowel sound. The "r" at the end is not silent, but is pronounced with a slight retroflexion. The IPA phonetic transcription for "hairy" is /ˈhɛəri/. This word is often used to describe someone or something that has a lot of hair, such as a person's head or an animal's coat.
Hairy is an adjective that refers to the presence of, resembling, or defining hair or having an excessive amount of hair. It can be used to describe an individual, animal, or object.
When used to describe a person, hairy usually means having a lot of hair on the body, typically on areas such as the chest, back, and arms. It can also refer to facial hair, such as a beard, mustache, or sideburns. In this context, hairy often implies an abundance or growth of hair that is more noticeable than what is considered average or expected.
When applied to animals, hairy denotes a substantial amount of fur or hair covering their bodies. Species like bears, dogs, and cats are commonly associated with being hairy. This adjective can also be used to describe the texture of fur, particularly if it is long, thick, or coarse.
Furthermore, when referring to objects, hairy might describe their appearance or surface texture. For instance, a plant with a hairy stem or leaves will feature tiny, fine hair-like structures on its outer surface. In a metaphorical sense, the term hairy could be used to describe a situation or event that is intense, dangerous, difficult, or challenging.
Overall, hairy is a versatile word that can be applied to various contexts, indicating the presence of hair, fur, or hair-like structures, or describing something as intense or challenging.
• Hairiness.
• Covered with hair; resembling hair.
Etymological and pronouncing dictionary of the English language. By Stormonth, James, Phelp, P. H. Published 1874.
* The statistics data for these misspellings percentages are collected from over 15,411,110 spell check sessions on www.spellchecker.net from Jan 2010 - Jun 2012.
The word "hairy" can be traced back to the Old English word "hǣr" (pronounced "hair"), which meant "hair" or "covering of hair". This Old English term is derived from the Proto-Germanic word "haira", meaning "hair", which is further linked to the Proto-Indo-European root "*ker-" or "*kerə-" denoting the same concept. Ultimately, the word "hairy" can be connected to a broader family of words related to hair found across various Indo-European languages.
