Rā'cy, a.
a. [compar. RACIER; superl. RACIEST.] [From race, q. v.]
- Having a strong flavor indicating origin; tasting of the soil; hence, fresh; rich; as, racy cider; racy wine.
- Hence, exciting to the mental taste by a strong or distinctive character of thought or language; peculiar and piquant. “Fine, vigorous, rough, and racy lines.” Prof. Wilson.
Burns's English, though not so racy as his Scotch, is generally correct; perhaps the more so because he was obliged to ponder upon it a little. H. Coleridge. The most accomplished companies might experience a new pleasure from the rich and racy humor of a natural converser fresh from the plow. Prof. Wilson. The present era is the most splendid in the history of our poetry—in England beginning with Cowper, in Scotland with Burns. Original and racy, each in his own land is yet unexcelled. Prof. Wilson. Syn.—Spicy; spirited; lively; smart; piquant.—RACY, SPICY. Racy refers primarily to that strong and peculiar flavor which certain wines derive from the soil; and, hence, we call a style or production racy when it “smacks of the soil,” or has an uncommon degree of freshness and distinctiveness of thought and language. Spicy, when applied to style, has reference to that pungency which belongs to the aromatics of the East. A spicy review; a spicy article in a magazine; a spicy retort. Racy in conversation; a racy remark. Rich, racy verses, in which we, The soil from which they come, taste, smell, and see. Cowley.