ladily
ladily adjective: of or having the qualities of a lady.
Adjective
ladily (comparative more ladily, superlative most ladily)
- Of or having the qualities of a lady.
- But will the suppression of the population of the poor, receive the sanction of any but the lordly or ladily aristocrat?1830, Robert Dale Owen Unmasked by His Own Pen. Showing His Unqualified Approbation of a Most Obscenely Indelicate Work Entitled, “What Is Love, or, Every Woman’s Book.” […], New York, N.Y.: […]...
- The healer of the sick, whether physician or veterinarian, can by certain known remedies allay the irritations arising from merely functional derangements, but when the sable king in his ladily aspect and with fatal fangs approaches, skill is at once absorbed, and the ‘medicine man’ stands before...1881 November 8, “Homo”, The Veterinary Journal and Annals of Comparative Pathlogy, volume XIV, London: Bailliere, Tindall & Cox, […], published 1882, page 308
- Synonyms:
- ladylike
Adverb
ladily (comparative more ladily, superlative most ladily)
- In the manner of a lady.
- […]a lady at the table talked so ladily of the Poets that I drank off my glass very often almost without knowing[…]1829 January 3, John Clare, edited by J. W. and Anne Tibble, The Letters of John Clare, Routledge & Kegan Paul, published 1951, →ISBN, page 222
- Ladies in English legend have been known to turn into foxes; but do so ladily, in a properly lady-like manner.1967, Japan Quarterly, page 76
- Synonyms:
- ladylike, ladylikely
Examples of ladily in a sentence
- Even among the most lordly or (or “ladily”) of mankind, painting of the skin is still de riguener with the female sex.1971, Hobbies, page 144:
- His wife is a fine looking woman, ladily and dignified in her expression and bearing.[…]She sent me some tea-cakes by her grandma, Mrs.1984, Yun Chi-ho’s Diary, volume 2, pages 214 and 324:
- Her gait / Is slow-sharp and ladily and / Interestingly very natural.2013, Joe Tshabalala, “The Queen-like Sister of Ward Twelve”, in Simonne Horwitz, Baragwanath Hospital, Soweto: A History of Medical Care...
Synonyms of ladily
Forms of ladily
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more ladily |
| superlative | most ladily |
| alternative form | ladyly |
| Adverb | |
| comparative | more ladily |
| superlative | most ladily |
Origin of ladily
From Middle English ladily, ladyly; equivalent to lady + -ly (adjectival suffix).
From Middle English ladily, ladyly; equivalent to lady + -ly (adverbial suffix).
Questions about ladily
- What does ladily mean?
- Ladily means of or having the qualities of a lady.
- How do you use ladily in a sentence?
- Even among the most lordly or (or “ladily”) of mankind, painting of the skin is still de riguener with the female sex.
- What part of speech is ladily?
- Ladily can be an adjective or an adverb.
Words near ladily in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ladily (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: “ladily.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ladily. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.