Meaning & use
doughy
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Soft, heavy and sticky like raw dough, or not baked enough so that the inside stays pale and wet.
Grammar: Can come before a noun or after be: a doughy loaf; the bread is doughy.
Patterns
- doughy in the middle
- a doughy texture
The loaf was doughy in the middle because the oven was too cool.
I like pizza with a crisp edge, not a doughy base.
The pastry came out pale and doughy.
adjectivecomparableinformaldisapproving
Soft, pale and a little flabby in appearance, used of a person's face or body.
Grammar: Often used before a noun and can sound unkind: a doughy face.
Patterns
- a doughy face
- doughy skin
He had a pale, doughy face and tired eyes.
Her arms looked doughy after months indoors.
The clerk's doughy cheeks shook as he laughed.
Word forms
| comparative | doughier |
|---|---|
| superlative | doughiest |
Common combinations
- doughy texture
- The cake had an unpleasant doughy texture.
- doughy center
- The roll had a doughy center.
- doughy face
- The man had a doughy face and a soft smile.
- doughy bread
- Doughy bread is a sign it needed longer in the oven.
- doughy skin
- Illness left his skin pale and doughy.
Synonyms and how they differ
- pasty
- Pasty often describes a pale, unhealthy complexion, while doughy can describe both texture and soft, pale skin.
- undercooked
- Undercooked simply means not cooked enough, whereas doughy specifically describes the sticky, soft inside of baked goods.
- soggy
- Soggy means soaked with liquid, while doughy means thick and heavy like uncooked dough.
- flabby
- Flabby describes loose, soft flesh and is more critical, whereas doughy stresses pale softness.
Opposites
Word family
- dough noun
- a thick mixture of flour and liquid used for baking
- doughiness noun
- the state of being doughy
- doughnut noun
- a fried ring or ball of sweet dough
- doughboy noun
- an old name for a US infantry soldier, or a pudgy person
Commonly confused: doughy or dowdy?
doughy vs dowdy
Dowdy means dull and unfashionable in dress, while doughy means soft and pale like dough.
Practice
The baker cut open the loaf and found the center was still ___.
Choose one answer.
A loaf that is under-baked in the middle is doughy. Crispy and toasted describe a well-baked outside, and brittle describes something that snaps.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “doughy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.