See lurgy on Wiktionary
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"expansion": "noun",
"name": "lg"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "lurdan",
"t": "coward; good-for-nothing person, fool, rascal; lazy person; low-born or ill-mannered person; unfortunate person; wicked person"
},
"expansion": "Middle English lurdan (“coward; good-for-nothing person, fool, rascal; lazy person; low-born or ill-mannered person; unfortunate person; wicked person”)",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "fro",
"3": "lordin"
},
"expansion": "Old French lordin",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "fr",
"2": "lourd"
},
"expansion": "French lourd",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "suffix"
},
"expansion": "suffix",
"name": "lg"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "la-lat",
"3": "lordus"
},
"expansion": "Late Latin lordus",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "la",
"3": "lūridus",
"t": "sallow, wan; ghastly, horrifying"
},
"expansion": "Latin lūridus (“sallow, wan; ghastly, horrifying”)",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*(s)leh₃y-",
"t": "bluish"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *(s)leh₃y- (“bluish”)",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "non-specific disease",
"uc": "1"
},
"expansion": "Noun sense 1.2",
"name": "senseno"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "corruption"
},
"expansion": "corruption",
"name": "lg"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "contraction"
},
"expansion": "contraction",
"name": "lg"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "folk etymology"
},
"expansion": "folk etymology",
"name": "lg"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "adjective"
},
"expansion": "adjective",
"name": "lg"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "attributive"
},
"expansion": "attributive",
"name": "lg"
}
],
"etymology_text": "The noun is derived from fever-lurgy, possibly influenced by or related to lurk (“to hang out or wait”). Fever-lurgy is possibly a variant of fever lurden (“idleness regarded as a medical condition”), from fever + lurden, lurdane (“used as a general term of abuse for a person, especially one regarded as dull or idle: loafer, sluggard”). Lurden, lurdane is derived from Middle English lurdan (“coward; good-for-nothing person, fool, rascal; lazy person; low-born or ill-mannered person; unfortunate person; wicked person”), from Old French lordin, lourdin, from lourd, lourt, lorz (“clumsy, oafish; heavy”) (modern French lourd) + -in (suffix forming derogatory or diminutive nouns); and lourd from Late Latin lordus, lurdus (“clumsy; heavy slow; stupid”), probably from Latin lūridus (“sallow, wan; ghastly, horrifying”), possibly from lūror (“lividness; paleness, pallor”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leh₃y- (“bluish”)) + -idus (suffix meaning ‘tending to’ forming adjectives).\nNoun sense 1.2 (“non-specific disease”) was popularized by the British radio comedy show The Goon Show (first broadcast 1951–1960), especially the episode “Lurgi Strikes Britain” (series 5, episode 7; 9 November 1954) written by the Anglo-Irish comedian Spike Milligan (1918–2002) and the English comedian Eric Sykes (1923–2012), about the outbreak of a highly dangerous and infectious and—as it turns out—fictitious disease known as “the Dreaded Lurgi” created as a scam.\nAnother suggestion is that the word is a corruption and contraction of allergy, but this is a folk etymology as allergy has a soft g (/dʒ/) while lurgy has a hard /ɡ/ (rhyming with Fergie).\nThe adjective is probably from an attributive use of the noun.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "lurgies",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
},
{
"form": "lurgee",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
},
{
"form": "lurgey",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
},
{
"form": "lurgi",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "~"
},
"expansion": "lurgy (countable and uncountable, plural lurgies)",
"name": "en-noun"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "humorous",
"3": "slang"
},
"expansion": "(humorous, slang)",
"name": "tlb"
}
],
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{
"parts": [
"lur",
"gy"
]
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"related": [
{
"word": "cootie"
},
{
"word": "ligma"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"attestations": [
{
"date": "from late 18th c.",
"references": []
}
],
"categories": [
"Cornish English",
"English terms with archaic senses",
"English terms with quotations",
"Irish English",
"Northern England English"
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
12,
17
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],
"ref": "1804, William Lander, Junr., “An Advertisement”, in Works, Religious, Moral, Political, and Satyrical, Penzance, Cornwall: […] Thomas Vigurs, →OCLC, page 36:",
"text": "Both in the lurgy and the gripes, / These cakes are useful things, / And fit to stop the small windpipes / Of little nasty kings.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Chiefly preceded by the.",
"Idleness or laziness regarded as a medical condition; also, depression, especially resulting from a hangover."
],
"links": [
[
"the",
"the#Article"
],
[
"England",
"England"
],
[
"Idleness",
"idleness"
],
[
"laziness",
"laziness"
],
[
"regarded",
"regard#Verb"
],
[
"medical",
"medical#Adjective"
],
[
"condition",
"condition#Noun"
],
[
"depression",
"depression"
],
[
"resulting",
"result#Verb"
],
[
"hangover",
"hangover"
]
],
"qualifier": "chiefly England (Cornwall, Northern England)",
"raw_glosses": [
"Chiefly preceded by the.",
"(chiefly England (Cornwall, Northern England), Ireland, archaic) Idleness or laziness regarded as a medical condition; also, depression, especially resulting from a hangover."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "fever lurden"
},
{
"word": "fever-lurgy"
},
{
"word": "lurgy-fever"
}
],
"tags": [
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"archaic",
"countable",
"humorous",
"slang",
"uncountable"
]
},
{
"attestations": [
{
"date": "from mid 20th c.",
"references": []
}
],
"categories": [
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"British English",
"English military slang",
"English terms with collocations",
"English terms with quotations",
"Irish English",
"New Zealand English"
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
12,
17
]
],
"tags": [
"collocation"
],
"text": "the dreaded lurgy",
"type": "example"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
170,
175
]
],
"ref": "1952 July 8, Spike Milligan, Larry Stephens, Jimmy Grafton, “[Untitled]”, in The Goon Show, season 2, episode 24 (BBC radio script), page 8:",
"text": "Harry. Now, you claim that if we set you up in a well-equipped laboratory, you will find the cure for almost everything. / Mike. (dramatically) Yes—including the dreaded Lurgi.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
170,
175
]
],
"ref": "2011 October 5, Jonathan Freedland, “David Cameron’s speech fails to match the gravity of the times”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 22 Dec 2024:",
"text": "He [David Cameron] was helped, of course, by his presentational skills, still present here despite a sore throat and what seemed to be a spot of the perennial conference lurgy.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
120,
125
]
],
"ref": "2019 January 6, Nicola Davis, “Seven ways to dodge a cold – or recover faster”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 10 Jan 2026:",
"text": "Blocked nose, watering eyes, a sore throat – the signs of a cold are all too familiar. Here are seven ways to dodge the lurgy, or shrug it off sooner [subtitle]",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Chiefly preceded by the.",
"A non-specific (often infectious) disease, especially one with symptoms similar to those of a cold or flu, which renders one unfit to attend social events, go to work, etc."
],
"links": [
[
"the",
"the#Article"
],
[
"military",
"military"
],
[
"non-specific",
"nonspecific"
],
[
"infectious",
"infectious"
],
[
"disease",
"disease#Noun"
],
[
"symptom",
"symptom"
],
[
"similar",
"similar#Adjective"
],
[
"cold",
"cold#Noun"
],
[
"flu",
"flu"
],
[
"renders",
"render#Verb"
],
[
"unfit",
"unfit#Adjective"
],
[
"attend",
"attend"
],
[
"social events",
"social events"
],
[
"go",
"go#Verb"
],
[
"work",
"work#Noun"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"Chiefly preceded by the.",
"(possibly by extension, originally UK military slang, now chiefly Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, UK) A non-specific (often infectious) disease, especially one with symptoms similar to those of a cold or flu, which renders one unfit to attend social events, go to work, etc."
],
"senseid": [
"en:non-specific disease"
],
"tags": [
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"Ireland",
"New-Zealand",
"UK",
"broadly",
"countable",
"humorous",
"possibly",
"slang",
"uncountable"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"enpr": "lûʹgē",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈlɜːɡi/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"enpr": "lûrʹge",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈlɜɹɡi/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
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"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/56/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_%28NaomiAmethyst%29-lurgy.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_%28NaomiAmethyst%29-lurgy.wav.mp3",
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"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"audio": "En-au-lurgy.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/cc/En-au-lurgy.ogg/En-au-lurgy.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/En-au-lurgy.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
]
},
{
"rhymes": "-ɜː(ɹ)ɡi"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"lang_code": "fi",
"sense": "non-specific (often infectious) disease",
"word": "nuha"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Eric Sykes",
"Michael Quinion",
"Spike Milligan",
"The Goon Show"
],
"word": "lurgy"
}
{
"categories": [
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"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English humorous terms",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English slang",
"English terms derived from Late Latin",
"English terms derived from Latin",
"English terms derived from Middle English",
"English terms derived from Old French",
"English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
"English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *(s)leh₃y-",
"English terms inherited from Middle English",
"English uncountable nouns",
"Entries with translation boxes",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries",
"Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)ɡi",
"Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)ɡi/2 syllables",
"Terms with Finnish translations"
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
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"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*(s)leh₃y-"
},
"expansion": "",
"name": "root"
},
{
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},
"expansion": "noun",
"name": "lg"
},
{
"args": {
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"2": "enm",
"3": "lurdan",
"t": "coward; good-for-nothing person, fool, rascal; lazy person; low-born or ill-mannered person; unfortunate person; wicked person"
},
"expansion": "Middle English lurdan (“coward; good-for-nothing person, fool, rascal; lazy person; low-born or ill-mannered person; unfortunate person; wicked person”)",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
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"2": "fro",
"3": "lordin"
},
"expansion": "Old French lordin",
"name": "der"
},
{
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"2": "lourd"
},
"expansion": "French lourd",
"name": "cog"
},
{
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},
"expansion": "suffix",
"name": "lg"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "la-lat",
"3": "lordus"
},
"expansion": "Late Latin lordus",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "la",
"3": "lūridus",
"t": "sallow, wan; ghastly, horrifying"
},
"expansion": "Latin lūridus (“sallow, wan; ghastly, horrifying”)",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*(s)leh₃y-",
"t": "bluish"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *(s)leh₃y- (“bluish”)",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "non-specific disease",
"uc": "1"
},
"expansion": "Noun sense 1.2",
"name": "senseno"
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{
"args": {
"1": "corruption"
},
"expansion": "corruption",
"name": "lg"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "contraction"
},
"expansion": "contraction",
"name": "lg"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "folk etymology"
},
"expansion": "folk etymology",
"name": "lg"
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{
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"expansion": "adjective",
"name": "lg"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "attributive"
},
"expansion": "attributive",
"name": "lg"
}
],
"etymology_text": "The noun is derived from fever-lurgy, possibly influenced by or related to lurk (“to hang out or wait”). Fever-lurgy is possibly a variant of fever lurden (“idleness regarded as a medical condition”), from fever + lurden, lurdane (“used as a general term of abuse for a person, especially one regarded as dull or idle: loafer, sluggard”). Lurden, lurdane is derived from Middle English lurdan (“coward; good-for-nothing person, fool, rascal; lazy person; low-born or ill-mannered person; unfortunate person; wicked person”), from Old French lordin, lourdin, from lourd, lourt, lorz (“clumsy, oafish; heavy”) (modern French lourd) + -in (suffix forming derogatory or diminutive nouns); and lourd from Late Latin lordus, lurdus (“clumsy; heavy slow; stupid”), probably from Latin lūridus (“sallow, wan; ghastly, horrifying”), possibly from lūror (“lividness; paleness, pallor”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leh₃y- (“bluish”)) + -idus (suffix meaning ‘tending to’ forming adjectives).\nNoun sense 1.2 (“non-specific disease”) was popularized by the British radio comedy show The Goon Show (first broadcast 1951–1960), especially the episode “Lurgi Strikes Britain” (series 5, episode 7; 9 November 1954) written by the Anglo-Irish comedian Spike Milligan (1918–2002) and the English comedian Eric Sykes (1923–2012), about the outbreak of a highly dangerous and infectious and—as it turns out—fictitious disease known as “the Dreaded Lurgi” created as a scam.\nAnother suggestion is that the word is a corruption and contraction of allergy, but this is a folk etymology as allergy has a soft g (/dʒ/) while lurgy has a hard /ɡ/ (rhyming with Fergie).\nThe adjective is probably from an attributive use of the noun.",
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "?"
},
"expansion": "lurgy",
"name": "en-adj"
}
],
"hyphenations": [
{
"parts": [
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"gy"
]
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "adj",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"Cornish English",
"English terms with obsolete senses",
"Northern England English"
],
"glosses": [
"Idle, lazy."
],
"links": [
[
"England",
"England"
],
[
"Idle",
"idle#Adjective"
],
[
"lazy",
"lazy#Adjective"
]
],
"qualifier": "chiefly England (Cornwall, Northern England)",
"raw_glosses": [
"(chiefly England (Cornwall, Northern England), obsolete) Idle, lazy."
],
"tags": [
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"obsolete",
"slang"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"enpr": "lûʹgē",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈlɜːɡi/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"enpr": "lûrʹge",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈlɜɹɡi/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
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"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"audio": "En-au-lurgy.ogg",
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"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/En-au-lurgy.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
]
},
{
"rhymes": "-ɜː(ɹ)ɡi"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Eric Sykes",
"Michael Quinion",
"Spike Milligan",
"The Goon Show"
],
"word": "lurgy"
}
Download raw JSONL data for lurgy meaning in All languages combined (16.2kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-09-20 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-09-02 using wiktextract (d6fca27 and 65e1673). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.