comely
Syllables: come·lyUK/ˈkʌmli/
comely adjective: of a person: attractive or pleasing to look at; beautiful, handsome; also, attractive but not particularly beautiful or handsome.
Adjective
comely (comparative comelier or more comely, superlative comeliest or most comely)
- Of a person: attractive or pleasing to look at; beautiful, handsome; also, attractive but not particularly beautiful or handsome.
- a comely woman
- Not once perceive their foul disfigurement, / But boaſt themſelves more comely than before1634 October 9 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […] [Comus], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey...
- Synonyms:
- pulchritudinous, attractive, beauteous, beautifool, beautiful, beautimous, bona vardering, bonnie, breathtaking, captivating
- Of a person, an action, behaviour, etc.: meeting accepted moral or social norms; appropriate, becoming, proper.
- Doth any contumely vvhich vvee ſuſtaine for religions ſake pierce ſo deeply as […] vvhen they […] trample vnder foote almoſt vvhatſoeuer either vvee or the vvhole Church of God by the ſpace of ſo many ages haue beene accuſtomed vnto for the comlier and better exerciſe of our religion according to...1597, Richard Hooker, “In the Seruice of Idols the Doores of Their Temples, the Sacrifices, the Altars, the Priests and the Supplicants that were Present Wore Garlands”, in J[ohn] S[penser], editor...
- I neuer tempted her vvith vvord too large, / But as a brother to his ſiſter, ſhevved / Baſhfull ſinceritie, and comelie loue.1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, Much Adoe about Nothing. […], quarto edition, London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, published 1600, →OCLC, [Act IV...
- Synonyms:
- agreeable, seemly, allowable, appropriate, apropos, apposite, apt, commensurate, correct, decorous
- Antonyms:
- improper, inappropriate, unbecoming, uncomely, unseemly, bad, discommensurate, malapropos, inapt, incommensurate
- Of a thing: beautiful, elegant, well-composed; also, delicate, fine.
- In ſhootinge at the prickes, haſtye and quicke drawinge is neyther ſure nor yet comely.1544 (date written; published 1571), Roger Ascham, Toxophilus, the Schole, or Partitions, of Shooting. […], London: […] Thomas Marshe, →OCLC; republished in The English Works of Roger Ascham, […]...
- Antonyms:
- uncomely
- Pleasing to the feelings or senses; agreeable, nice, pleasant.
- Oh hovv comely it is and hovv reviving / To the Spirits of juſt men long oppreſt! / VVhen God into the hands of thir deliverer / Puts invincible might1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 76, lines...
- [T]hey said many kind and comely things about the people they had met.1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, “With the Children of Israel. III. The Return.”, in The Silverado Squatters, London: Chatto and Windus, […], →OCLC, page 93
- Synonyms:
- gratifying, acceptable, agreeable, amiable, charming, nice, pleasant, pleasing, welcome
Verb
comely (third-person singular simple present comelies, present participle comelying, simple past and past participle comelied)
- To embellish or grace (something).
- One diligent seruiture, skilfull to waight, / more comelieth thy table than other some eight, / That stand for to listen, or gasing about, / not minding their dutie, within nor without.1878, Thomas Tusser, “Lessons for Waiting Seruants”, in Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie. […], London: Published for the English Dialect Society by Trübner & Co., […], →OCLC; republished as...
Adverb
comely (comparative more comely, superlative most comely)
- Synonym of comelily (“in a comely manner: in an attractive or pleasing manner; in a manner which meets accepted moral or social norms”).
- So ſlides he dovvne vppon his greyned bat [i.e., a walking stick]; / And comely diſtant ſits he by her ſide, […]1609, William Shakespeare, “A Louers Complaint”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC, signature K2, verso
- T'is very good to vvaſh his hands and face often, to haue faire linnen about him, to be decently and comely attired, for ſordes vitiant, naſtineſſe defiles, & deiects any man that is ſo voluntarily, or compelled by vvant, it dulleth the ſpirits.1621, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Rectifying, Retention and Evacuation”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy, […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and Iames Short, for Henry...
comely meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
comely in Tamil
- மெல்ல, கவின்
comely in Urdu
- حسین, جمیل, قبول صورت, زیبا
comely in Bengali
- দেখতে সুন্দর, আকর্ষণীয়
comely in Malayalam
- സൗന്ദര്യമുളള, സുന്ദരം
More languagesFewer languages
- comely in Kannada
- ಸೊಗಸಾದ, ಅಂದವಾದ, ಗಾಡಿವೆತ್ತ, ಸುಂದರವಾದ
Examples of comely in a sentence
- He that is comely, when old and decrepit, ſurely was very beautiful, when he was young.1662 November 18 (date delivered; Gregorian calendar); first published 1692, Robert South, “A Sermon Preached at the Cathedral-Church of...
- He [Friday] vvas a comely, handsome Fellovv, perfectly vvell made, vvith ſtrait long Limbs, not too large, tall and vvell ſhap'd; and, as I reckon, about tvventy-ſix Years of Age.1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam]...
- Near to the winter fire sat a beautiful young girl, so like that last that Scrooge believed it was the same, until he saw her, now a comely matron, sitting opposite her daughter.1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Two. The First of the Three Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […]...
- As the painter looked at the gracious and comely form he had so skilfully mirrored in his art, a smile of pleasure passed across his face, and seemed about to linger there.1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter I, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, London; New York, N.Y.: Ward Lock & Co., →OCLC, page 2:
Synonyms of comely
- pulchritudinous
- attractive
- beauteous
- beautifool
- beautiful
- beautimous
- bona vardering
- bonnie
- breathtaking
- captivating
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
10 more antonymsFewer antonyms
Forms of comely
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | comelier |
| comparative | more comely |
| superlative | comeliest |
| superlative | most comely |
| alternative form | comly |
| alternative form | cumlie |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | comelies |
| present participle | comelying |
| past participle | comelied |
| past | comelied |
| Adverb | |
| comparative | more comely |
| superlative | most comely |
Origin of comely
The adjective is derived from Middle English comly, comli, cumly, cumlich (“of a person: beautiful, handsome, etc.; of noble birth, bearing, or character; of behaviour: appropriate, becoming; of an event: convenient; favourable; of a thing: beautiful, wonderful; fitting, proper”), from Old English cymlīċ, cȳmlīċ (“beautiful, comely; splendid; convenient”), from cȳme (“beautiful, comely; splendid; exquisite, fine”) + -līċ (suffix meaning ‘like; relating to’ forming adjectives). Cȳme is derived from Proto-Germanic *kūmiz (“delicate; feeble”), from *kūmalīkaz (“dear; pitiful”), probably related to *kūmaz, *kūmijaz (“pitiful; frail, weak”), from Proto-Indo-European *gewH- (“to call, name; to call on, invoke; to cry, cry out”). The word was influenced by come (verb). The verb is derived from the adjective. Cognates Middle Dutch komelick, komlick Middle High German gomelīh, komelīh
From Middle English comli, cumly, cumeliche (“beautifully, handsomely; gracefully; splendidly; fittingly, properly; well”), from Old English cȳme (adjective) (see etymology 1) + Middle English -li (suffix forming adverbs).
Words formed from comely
Words that rhyme with comely
Questions about comely
- What does comely mean?
- Comely means of a person: attractive or pleasing to look at; beautiful, handsome; also, attractive but not particularly beautiful or handsome.
- What is comely in Tamil?
- Comely in Tamil is மெல்ல, கவின். See Comely meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use comely in a sentence?
- He that is comely, when old and decrepit, ſurely was very beautiful, when he was young.
- What part of speech is comely?
- Comely can be an adjective, a verb or an adverb.
- How do you pronounce comely?
- Comely is pronounced /ˈkʌmli/ (UK).
Words near comely in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: comely (page history and authors); comely (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); comely (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); comely (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); comely (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); comely (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-comely.ogg.
Cite this entry: “comely.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/comely. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.