courtly
UK/ˈkɔːtli//ˈkɔɹtli/
courtly adjective: befitting of a royal court; reflecting the manners or behaviour of people at court; stately, rich or fine, and so suitable for a royal court.
Adjective
courtly (comparative courtlier, superlative courtliest)
- Befitting of a royal court; reflecting the manners or behaviour of people at court; stately, rich or fine, and so suitable for a royal court.
- He swept off his hat and made a deep courtly bow.
- The troubadours sang songs about courtly love.
- Synonyms:
- refined, dignified, genteel, well-mannered
- Of or relating to courtly love or courtship.
- Of or relating to a royal court.
- She tried to remain aloof from courtly intrigues.
- in houres secure from courtly strifea. 1627, John Beaumont, “Horat. Lib. 2. Sat. 6.”, in Bosworth-Field with a Taste of the Variety of Other Poems, London: Henry Seile, page 40
- Overly eager to please or obey.
- Here FLATT’RY, eldest born of guile, / Weaves with rare skill the silken smile, / The courtly cringe, the supple bow, / The private squeeze, the Levee vow,1764, C[harles] Churchill, “Book I”, in The Duellist. A Poem. […], London: […] G. Kearsly, […]; W[illiam] Flexney, […]; J. Coote, […]; C. Henderson, […]; J. Gardiner, […]; and J. Almon, […], →OCLC...
- That judgment James had notoriously obtained […] by dismissing scrupulous magistrates, and by placing on the bench other magistrates more courtly.1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter VII, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and...
- Synonyms:
- flattering, obsequious, servile
Adverb
courtly (comparative more courtly, superlative most courtly)
- In the manner of a royal court; in a manner befitting of a royal court.
- Then will I deck thee Princely, instruct thee courtly, / And present thee to the Queene as my gift.1598, Robert Greene, The Scottish Historie of James the Fourth, London, act I, scene 1
- […] where, in the name of wonder, have you learn’d to talk so courtly?1673, John Dryden, The Assignation, London: Henry Herringman, act II, scene 3, page 17
- Synonyms:
- courtlily
courtly meaning in Urdu, Malayalam and Kannada
courtly in Urdu
- درباری, مہذب, پروقار
courtly in Malayalam
- രാജസഭയെ സംബന്ധിച്ച, മര്യാദയും അന്തസ്സുമുള്ള
courtly in Kannada
- ಅಗ್ಗಳೆಯುಳ್ಳ
Examples of courtly in a sentence
- You have too courtly a wit for me; I’ll rest.c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First...
- […] you must give men of Quality leave to speak in a Language more Gentile and Courtly than the ordinary sort of mankind.1682, Aphra Behn, “The Roundheads or, The Good Old Cause”, in et al., London: D. Brown, act III, scene 1, page 23:
- He is a Master of Civility, no less well-bred to his own Sex than courtly to the other.1715, Homer, “Book III”, in Alexander Pope, transl., The Iliad of Homer, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […]...
- Micawber took a seat, and waved his hand in his most courtly manner.1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, chapter 17, in The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […]...
Synonyms of courtly
Forms of courtly
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | courtlier |
| superlative | courtliest |
| Adverb | |
| comparative | more courtly |
| superlative | most courtly |
Origin of courtly
From Middle English courtly, equivalent to court + -ly.
Words formed from courtly
Words that rhyme with courtly
Questions about courtly
- What does courtly mean?
- Courtly means befitting of a royal court; reflecting the manners or behaviour of people at court; stately, rich or fine, and so suitable for a royal court.
- What is courtly in Urdu?
- Courtly in Urdu is درباری, مہذب, پروقار. See Courtly meaning in Urdu.
- How do you use courtly in a sentence?
- You have too courtly a wit for me; I’ll rest.
- What part of speech is courtly?
- Courtly can be an adjective or an adverb.
- How do you pronounce courtly?
- Courtly is pronounced /ˈkɔːtli/ (UK).
Words near courtly in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: courtly (page history and authors); courtly (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); courtly (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); courtly (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-courtly.wav.
Cite this entry: “courtly.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/courtly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.