Word.ws English Dictionary

holily

UK/ˈhəʊlɪli/

holily adverb: in a holy way; with sanctity.

Adverb

holily (comparative more holily, superlative most holily)

  1. In a holy way; with sanctity.
    • And there are ſome diſpoſitions blame-vvorthy in men, vvhich are yet, in a right ſenſe, holily aſcribed unto God; as unchangeableneſs, and irrepentance: […]1648, J[oseph] Hall, chapter XLVI, in Select Thoughts: Or, Choice Helps for a Pious Spirit. […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Brooke, […], published 1654, →OCLC, page 140
    • […] enjoyning them upon the severest Penalties to live godlily, holily and righteously in this present World […]1688, Henry Wharton, Sermon III preach'd at Lambeth Chapel

Forms of holily

comparativemore holily
superlativemost holily

Origin of holily

From Middle English holily, holyly, holilie, holiliche, holyliche, haliliche, haliʒlike, haliliʒ, from Old English hāliġlīċe, equivalent to holy + -ly.

Questions about holily

What does holily mean?
Holily means in a holy way; with sanctity.
What part of speech is holily?
Holily is an adverb.
How do you pronounce holily?
Holily is pronounced /ˈhəʊlɪli/ (UK).

Words near holily in the dictionary

  1. Holifield
  2. Holifields
  3. holigay
  4. holigays
  5. Holikachuk
  6. holily
  7. Holiman
  8. Holimans
  9. holin
  10. holiness
  11. holiness movement

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: holily (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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Cite this entry: “holily.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/holily. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.