What does bushy mean?
"Bushy" is an adjective describing something that grows densely and thickly, forming a full, shaggy mass. It is most frequently applied to hair and fur — bushy eyebrows, a bushy beard, a bushy tail — where it conveys abundant, untamed growth, often with an affectionate or faintly comic tone. It also describes vegetation: a bushy shrub branches into many stems rather than rising as a single trunk, giving it a rounded, luxuriant shape. The word derives from "bush", the Old Norse-influenced term for a thicket or shrub, extended figuratively to describe anything resembling such dense growth. In register it is neutral, appearing comfortably in both casual conversation and literary prose. Its commonest companions are eyebrows, beards, and tails, making it a staple of physical description. Useful for writers seeking vivid, concrete imagery of hairiness or lush foliage, "bushy" sits alongside synonyms like thick, luxuriant, and shaggy, though none captures quite the same image of bristling, well-fed abundance.
(Of hair, fur, or vegetation) growing or arranged densely and thickly; having a full, shaggy mass.
"The fox's bushy trail flickered between the trees."
Most commonly used of eyebrows, beards, moustaches, and animal tails; when applied to human head hair it can read as slightly comic.
(Of a plant) branching out into many stems rather than growing as a single main stem; producing dense lateral growth.
"Pinching back the tips encourages the basil to grow bushy."
Common in horticultural contexts, where bushy growth is usually considered desirable.
A squirrel's 'bushy tail' has been the animal's defining feature in English since at least the 14th century — the word is older than most of the dictionary around it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bushy
"Bushy" derives from the Middle English "busshy", formed from "bussh" (modern "bush"), itself borrowed from Old French "bos"/"buis" and ultimately from Germanic roots meaning a thicket or clump of shrubs. The adjective emerged in late Middle English, first recorded in the 14th–15th centuries, originally applied to thick vegetation and later extended to hair and fur by analogy. Cognates sharing this root include "brush" (a thicket of brushwood), "bosky" (woody), and "boscage" (a mass of trees or shrubs), all tracing back through Old French forms to the same underlying sense of dense woody growth.
How bushy is actually used
"Bushy" carries no strong register — it appears equally in everyday speech and literature. It most commonly modifies facial hair (eyebrows, beard, moustache) and animal tails, where it is affectionate rather than critical. Applied to people's hair it can sound slightly comic or uncomplimentary depending on context. When describing plants, it implies healthy, dense branching growth and is generally positive.
Easily confused with bushy
"Bushy" describes dense, thick growth of hair, fur, or vegetation; "lush" describes rich, luxuriant plant growth generally, often with connotations of verdancy.