appy, noun

/ˈæpi/
Forms:
Also appie.
Origin:
EnglishShow more Formed on English apprentice + (informal) noun suffix -y (or -ie).
colloquial
An apprentice. Also figurative, a greenhorn.
1985 Sunday Times 27 Oct. (Mag. Sect.) 10All you need do is pop down to the local garage and charm the appies into lending you a couple of chamois leathers.
1989 Sunday Times 14 May 5I’ve got all my pay slips going back to when I was an appy.
1991 M. Kantey All Tickets 19Being woken up at 03h00 to drink neat cane by appies on their way to trade tests in Pretoria.
1993 Natal Witness 6 Jan. 3Jockey fined for hitting appie.
1993 Informant, Grahamstown (now Makhanda, Eastern Cape)That lecturer is a bladdy appy.
An apprentice. Also figurative, a greenhorn.
Entry Navigation

Visualise Quotations

Quotation summary

Senses

19851993

Browse Related Words

By Category

Occupations

By Origin

English

By Usage

idiomatic
colloquial
apprenticeship, nounn.apricot sickness, noun phrasen. phr.
Copyright © 2025 Dictionary Unit for South African English