1795, from starch (n.) + -y (2). Related: Starchily; starchiness.
Entries linking to starchy
starch n.
"pasty substance used to stiffen cloth," mid-15c., back-formation from starch (v.). Figurative sense of "stiffness of manner" is recorded from 1705.
-y 2
adjective suffix, "full of or characterized by," from Old English -ig, from Proto-Germanic *-iga- (source also of Dutch, Danish, German -ig, Gothic -egs), from PIE -(i)ko-, adjectival suffix, cognate with elements in Greek -ikos, Latin -icus (see -ic). Originally added to nouns in Old English; used from 13c. with verbs, and by 15c. even with other adjectives (for example crispy). Adjectives such as hugy, vasty are artificial words that exist for the sake of poetical metrics.