dicty

• dickty

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

dicty (comparative dictier, superlative dictiest)

1. (African-American Vernacular) stylish and respectable; high-class
2. (African-American Vernacular) striving to seem stylish and respectable; pretentious
3. (African-American Vernacular) snobbish and uptight
   • 1957, James Baldwin, “Sonny’s Blues”, in Going to Meet the Man‎, Dial, published 1965:

     We had already decided that he'd have to move in with Isabel and her folks. I knew this wasn't the ideal arrangement because Isabel's folks are inclined to be dicty and they hadn't especially wanted Isabel to marry me. But I didn't know what else to do.

dicty (plural dicties)

1. (African-American Vernacular) An upper-class black.

• (high-class): chic, classy, ritzy
• (pretentious): flashy, showy
• (snobbish): haughty, hoity-toity, snobby, snooty, stuck-up