Pronounced: JED-buh-ruh juhs-tihs, noun
Notes: I’ve not heard this phrase
Yesterday’s word
The word yeasty means
- of, relating to, or resembling yeast
- immature; unsettled
- marked by change
- full of vitality
- frivolous
First usage
Our word came into English in the 1500s
Background / Comments
The first definition above seemed like the obvious one; the other ones were new to me. Even though our word is from the 1500s, the word “yeast” has been around as long as the English language has been around; it was “gist” or “geist” in Old English and had become “yest” in Middle English. Our word first referred to people or things with a yellowish or frothy appearance (similar to the froth that forms on the top of fermented beverages). The other definitions are extended figurative senses of our word; specifically, the excitable, chemical nature of fermentation.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 