Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1829-1835, 1890-1924
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GUTSIE, adj., n. Also guts(e)y. [′gʌtse]
I. adj. 1. Greedy for food, gluttonous (Sc. 1808 Jam.). Gen.Sc.Sc. 1829 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1863) II. 201:
There's nae denying that maist o' them's gutsy. But the married evangelical leddies are waur than the young anes.Per. 1835 J. Monteath Dunblane Trad. 27:
Thae gutsy English mak' just middens o' their wames.Sc. 1893 Stevenson Catriona xxx.:
Ye muckle gutsey hash, here's a Scots boot to your English hurdies.Kcb. 1911 G. M. Gordon Clay Biggin' 41:
The gutsy auld body had owereaten hersel'.Ayr. 1912 G. Cunningham Verse 184:
Ye greedy, gutsy-lukin' sicht.Ags. 1921 V. Jacob Bonnie Joann 5:
To gutsy doo or thievin' craw Ye mebbe represent the law.Abd. 1924 Swatches o' Hamespun 19:
Och, deil birst the gutsey kytes o' them!
Hence (1) gutsily, adv., gluttonously (Sc. 1825 Jam.; Cai. 1900 E.D.D.); (2) gutsiness, n., greediness, gluttony (Ib.; ne.Sc., m.Lth., Bwk. 1955).
2. Fig. Of a building: roomy, commodious (Abd., Ags., Fif., Ayr. 1955), a humorous extension of 1.Ayr. 1890 J. Service Notandums 24:
Gie me a guid square gutsy hoose, wi' a wysse-like but and a ben.Ags. 1894 J. Inglis Oor Ain Folk 66:
Eh, man, this is a braw laigh gutsy hoose.
II. n. A glutton (Ork. 1955).
[Guts + adj. suff. -Ie.]You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Gutsie adj., n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 19 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/gutsie>
