frothy

Etymology

froth + -y

adj

1. Foamy or churned to the point of becoming infused with bubbles.
   I like my milkshakes frothy, not flat like this!
   When this brown head was obtained the juice was drawn off into barrels, the lees were left in the keeve, and new juice was pumped upon these lees, this, however, produced a white frothy head, similar to that in the remaining keeves. 1903, Frederick James Lloyd, Report on the Results of Investigations Into Cidermaking, page 50
   The motion of this liquid layer was made visible by the small , frothy bubbles of vapor which were present in the film. 1964, John Henry Vohr, A Photographic Study of Boiling Flow, page 113
   For a frothy result, in a blender blend the hot chocolate in batches. 1992, Pearl Violette Metzelthin, editor, Gourmet - Volume 52, Issues 1-6, page 128
2. (figurative) lightweight; lacking depth or substance
   songs with frothy lyrics
   a frothy argument
   I cannot describe to you what pain I feel in repeating this light and frothy conversation, but I have compelled myself to give it you at some length, in order to lay before you, in its true light, the weakness of that heart which is not upheld by divine strength, and to shew you how little dependence can be placed on those who walk in their own strength, and are not divinely upheld. 1825, Mary Martha Sherwood, The lady of the manor, page 87
   The frothy orator, who busked his tales In quackish pomp of noisy words 1827, Robert Pollok, The Course of Time
   Now, I ask those honourable gentlemen who have given us a good deal of frothy argument this evening, without much business basis in it, who is going to pay that bill? 1921, New Zealand Parliament, Parliamentary Debates: House of Representatives, page 888
3. (business) Highly speculative; having high risk and high return.
   But we have found it profitable to engage in some trading on our own account, generally in the rather frothy areas. 1974, Australia. Parliament, Parliamentary Papers, page 297
   First, many of the welfare gains of the previous two decades or more turned out to have been illusory, as house and share prices tumbled, jobs disappeared and frothy investment opportunities collapsed. 2010, Bill Jordan, What's Wrong with Social Policy and How to Fix It, page 47
   In such a “frothy” market, investors' interests would generally have been served by selling rather than purchasing assets—and, in fact, by returning committed capital to investors rather than deploying it, since acquisitions generally would not be accretive. 2013, H. Kent Baker, Greg Filbeck, Alternative Investments

noun

1. (Australia, slang, chiefly in the plural) A serving of beer.