letterly
letterly adjective: befitting or characterised by letters (posted messages).
Adjective
letterly (comparative more letterly, superlative most letterly)
- Befitting or characterised by letters (posted messages).
- The context, it is worth noting, is a letterly one of postoffices, envelopes, and mailings.2002, James G. Watson, William Faulkner: Self-Presentation and Performance, page 65
- At times Faulkner wrote himself into his fiction by the letter writers he created; and often enough he wrote himself out of it by the content and style of their miswritten letters. The juxtaposition of his literary and letterly writing is revealing of both canons.2014, James G. Watson, William Faulkner, Letters & Fictions
Adverb
letterly (comparative more letterly, superlative most letterly)
- In a manner befitting or denoting letters; to the letter; precisely.
- Christian Scientists, all over the world, who are letterly fit and specially spiritually fitted for teachers, can teach annually three classes only. They shall teach from the Christian Science textbook.1924, Mary Baker Eddy, Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896 (Authorized Edition): - Page 316
Forms of letterly
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more letterly |
| superlative | most letterly |
| Adverb | |
| comparative | more letterly |
| superlative | most letterly |
Origin of letterly
From Middle English letterly, equivalent to letter + -ly.
Questions about letterly
- What does letterly mean?
- Letterly means befitting or characterised by letters (posted messages).
- What part of speech is letterly?
- Letterly can be an adjective or an adverb.
Words near letterly in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: letterly (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: “letterly.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/letterly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.