roily

[Paul B. Gallagher]

Josef Malkin wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Can anyone help me to find out what's wrong with the word "roily"?
> It exists in some dictionaries, yet for some reason's missing in the
> others.

There's nothing "wrong" with it, in principle, it's just a very rare 
word that very few of your readers will recognize and understand.

If I had to be picky, I'd point out that we usually form this class of 
adjectives (in -y) from nouns, but "roil" is a verb. But there are 
plenty of exceptions: a "runny nose" ought to be "running," but it 
isn't. And believe it or not, I just checked three fat English-Russian 
dictionaries, and none of their authors saw fit to include "runny."

-- 
War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left.
--
Paul B. Gallagher
pbg translations, inc.
"Russian Translations That Read Like Originals"
http://pbg-translations.com

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