inly
UK/ˈɪnli/
inly adjective: inward; interior; secret.
Adjective
inly (comparative more inly, superlative most inly)
- Inward; interior; secret.
- Didst thou but know the inly touch of love
Thou wouldst as soon go kindle fire with snow
As seek to quench the fire of love with words.c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- Didst thou but know the inly touch of love
Adverb
inly (comparative more inly, superlative most inly)
- Inwardly, within; internally; secretly.
- I have inly wept,
Or should have spoke ere this.1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published... - His offering soon propitious fire from heaven / Consumed with nimble glance, and grateful steam; / The other's not, for his was not sincere; / Whereat he inly raged,1667, John Milton, “Book XI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
- I have inly wept,
- Heartily, completely, fully, thoroughly; extremely.
- Ne was their salue, ne was their medicine, / That mote recure their wounds: so inly they did tine.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto XI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
Examples of inly in a sentence
- Thou hidden love of God, whose height, / Whose depth unfathom'd no man knows; I see from far they beauteous light, / Inly I sigh for thy repose:1738, Paul Gerhardt, “Thou Hidden Love of God”, in John Wesley, transl., The Wesleyan Methodist Hymn Book, London, published 1869, page 325:
- His heart inly relented,—there was a conflict,—but sin got the victory, and he set all the force of his rough nature against the conviction of his conscience.1851 June – 1852 April, Harriet Beecher Stowe, “35”, in Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life among the Lowly, volume II, Boston, Mass.: John...
- Thus tempted, the lust to avenge me / Germed inly and grew.1909, Thomas Hardy, “The Flirt's Tragedy”, in Time's Laughingstocks and Other Verses, London: Macmillan & Co., published 1928:
- A mighty forest inly smokes and smoulders before it bursts into a conflagration:1914, Rabindranath Tagore, The King of the Dark Chamber, New York: Macmillan, page 132:
Forms of inly
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more inly |
| superlative | most inly |
| Adverb | |
| comparative | more inly |
| superlative | most inly |
Origin of inly
From Middle English inly, from Old English inlīc (“inner, inward”), equivalent to in + -ly.
From Middle English inly, inliche, from Old English inlīċe (“inwardly”), equivalent to in + -ly.
Words that rhyme with inly
Questions about inly
- What does inly mean?
- Inly means inward; interior; secret.
- How do you use inly in a sentence?
- Thou hidden love of God, whose height, / Whose depth unfathom'd no man knows; I see from far they beauteous light, / Inly I sigh for thy repose:
- What part of speech is inly?
- Inly can be an adjective or an adverb.
- How do you pronounce inly?
- Inly is pronounced /ˈɪnli/ (UK).
Words near inly in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: inly (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: “inly.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/inly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.