Word
wendy
Phoneticswendy
/ˈwɛndi/
Definitions
01female name
n. a common first name for a woman.
n. a female given name, famously popularised by J.M. Barrie's 'Peter Pan'.
“Wendy invited all her friends to her birthday party last Saturday.”
“The name Wendy saw a significant surge in popularity during the early twentieth century following the success of the play Peter Pan.”
02a weak person
n. a person who is weak or easily afraid.
n. a derogatory term for a person perceived as weak, cowardly, or overly sensitive.
“Don't be such a wendy; the water isn't even that cold.”
“The schoolyard bully dismissed his peers as wendies whenever they hesitated to participate in his dangerous stunts.”
British English · Slang · Informal
Usage
Usually used as a countable noun in a dismissive or insulting way.
Teaching tip
This sense is specific to British English and is considered quite childish or dated; it is less common than 'wimp' or 'wuss'.
Etymology
Popularized by the character in J. M. Barrie's play, Peter Pan (1904) (though occasionally found earlier; the author explained that he got it from Fwendy-Wendy ("friend"), a nickname given to him by a child. Alternatively, from a diminutive of the Welsh Gwendolen; or from Wendelin, a diminutive of Wendel. A habitational forename meaning, "island at the river bend", from Old English wende (“watercourse with a bend”) + ēġ (“island”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/wendy