Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1960 (SND Vol. V).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1825-1956
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‡HEELIE, adj.1, v., n. Also he(e)llie, he(i)lie, heely, healey, hehllie, heal(l)y, haely, helly. [′hili; ′hele]
I. adj. Proud, disdainful, haughty (Bnff. 1893 W. Gregor in Dunbar's Works (S.T.S.) III. 195; Inv. 1902 E.D.D.); “crabbed, ill-tempered, troublesome” (Fif. 1825 Jam., heelie, heilie).
II. v. 1. To regard with disdain, despise (Bnff., Fif. 1880 Jam., heel(l)ie).Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 77:
Ye needna cast yir hehd that wye, an' hehllie the dress. It's our gueede for ye, an' the day may come fin y'ill be glaid o' a waur.
2. (1) tr. To affront, hurt, offend, vex (Bnff., Fif. 1880 Jam.; Bnff.8 c.1920, helie), also intr. quasi pass., to be offended, “to take an affront in silence” (Mry. 1813 W. Leslie Agric. Mry. 458, heally).Mry. a.1850 Pluscarden MS.:
She grat an wis tairrable hailit.Bnff. 1887 Trans. Bnff. Field Club 66:
I once heard an old woman tell of a spring that dried up in consequence of some filth being put into it. As she expressed it, the spring was “healied” — i.e., insulted.Abd. 1956 Huntly Express (3 Feb.):
Hoot, man! Dinna heely that wye, I wis only in fun.
(2) To abandon, forsake.n.Sc. 1825 Jam.:
A bird forsaking her nest and eggs, heallies it.
(3) To frighten (a bird) off its nest (Mry.1 1925).Mry. 1889 J. Watson Wild Birds 31:
In the earlier period of their nesting, . . . the bird is easily helliet or scared away from its nest.
III. n. An affront, a slight (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 77, hehllie; Bnff., Fif. 1880 Jam.; Mry.1 1925, haely), a feeling of pique. Phr. out o' the healey, in consequence of feeling insulted, out of pique.Crm. 1835 H. Miller Scenes and Leg. 293:
He had a high spirit, an', just out o' the healey, awa he went in young Captain Robinson's lugger, an' did na come near the place.Inv. 1905 E.D.D. Suppl.:
She never spoke the whole evening, with the heely she was in.Bnff.13 c.1927:
“I never got sic a heelie fae nae man” means “I never got such an insult” (by not being recognised in public).
Hence heelief(o)u, -fow, heliefu', proud, haughty, arrogant (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 77, hehlliefou; Fif. 1880 Jam.; Abd.7 1925); touchy, easily offended (Mry.1 1925).Ags.6 1905:
The fowk hereawa' are sae heliefu, they'll hardly look at ye.
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"Heelie adj.1, v., n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 2 Apr 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/heelie_adj1_v_n>
