peachy, adj. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

peachy adj.

also peach, peachie

wonderful, excellent, delightful.

1900		E.H. Babbitt ‘College Words and Phrases’ in DN II:i 48: peach, adj. Good, excellent. [...] peachyadj. 1. Good, excellent; hence 2. Attractive.
1909		John Guilpin & Bob Adams ‘Oh You Candy Kid’ 🎵 Peachy princess listen to me.
1917		J.E. Rendinell diary 20 Nov. in One Man’s War (1928) 36: Four of my buddies picked up a peachy French blonde apiece.
1918		A.W. Miller diary 18 Sept. 🌐 This morning at 8.30 our dentist bored a hole thru my gum in order to reach an abcessed tooth. Peachy, indeed.
1920		Ade Hand-made Fables 228: It is true that he received a peachy Check every Month. He earned it by sitting in a Swivel Chair and answering the ’Phone.
1924		C.S. Montanye ‘The Dizzy Dumb-Bell’ in Top Notch 1 Aug. 🌐 That peachie blonde [...] did the job for me.
1934		B. Traven Death Ship 36: Oh, his story is wonderful! It’s marvelous. It’s peachy.
1945		A. Kober Parm Me 74: Certainly some peachy pajamas.
1953		A. Kahn Brownstone 292: It’ll be so much fun, simply peachie, Betty.
1955		E. Hunter Blackboard Jungle 203: Now he’s got another peachy idea.
1965		R.L. Pike Mute Witness (1997) 9: ‘Sounds peachy,’ Stanton said.
1976		J. Heller Good As Gold (1979) 204: That was peachy.
1989		C. Hiaasen Skin Tight 227: Aside from that, life was peachy.
1989		R.G. Barrett Boys from Binjiwunyawunya 175: ‘Like your new digs, do you Les?’ ‘Yeah [...] It’s just peachy’.
1993		I. Welsh Trainspotting 123: A dead peachy scene that would be, ah kid you not catboy!
2000		Guardian Guide 11–17 Mar. 77: Everything seems peachy until the couple decide to move in with mom.
2012		(con. 1980s) I. Welsh Skagboys 495: Right now, it’s pure peachy sittin here.
2016		Twitter 18 July 🌐 @jessphillips You are making up abuse for attention. @jessphillips: yeah I love this attention, its just peachy.
2017		S.M. Jones August Snow [ebook] ‘The other guy’s peachy,’ I said. ‘I got the shit kicked out of me’.
2021		T. Swerdlow Straight Dope [ebook] [She] looked up at me as if everything was just peachy.
2024		J. Meades Empty Wigs (t/s) 420: ‘Jazzman! Heavens! Isn’t that peachy!’.

In compounds

peachy-clean (adj.)

absolutely innocent, untainted.

1990		E. Goldrick A Heart As Big As Texas 44: The pipe you put in the ditch to carry the water down to the house and make everything all peachy clean?
1999		Indep. Rev. 27 July 9: From troubled girl next door to peachy-clean dream-bride.

peachy-keen (adj.) [keen adj.] (US)

1. excellent, first-rate.

1953		Mad mag. Aug.–Sept. 8: She’s real peachy keen. Wow!
1959		L. Hansberry Raisin in the Sun III i: Everything is strictly peachy keen as the ofay kids say!
1969		N. Cohn Awopbop. (1970) 52: We dig America. We think it’s really peachy-keen.
1972		R. Barrett Lovomaniacs (1973) 106: The Hallowell, whatever her other sterling qualities [...] has also one peachy-keen sense of taste when it comes to clothing.
1987		S. King Misery (1988) 5: That was good, that was in fact just peachy-keen.
1992		R. Marcinko Rogue Warrior (1993) 344: Oh, it was peachy-keen, ducky.

2. ironic use of sense 1.

1979

G. Swarthout Skeletons 48: ‘How are you, darling?’ ‘Peachy keen. I got a speeding ticket.’.