lordly
/lɔːdli/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
British/loːdlɪj/
lordly adjective: of or relating to a lord.
Adjective (1)
lordly (comparative lordlier or more lordly, superlative lordliest or most lordly)
- Of or relating to a lord.
- Show us your lordly might: demonstrate that you can order people and get them to obey.
- But they are the peers of the Queensland Parliament, and, having no lordly robes, must approach the Old Country model as closely as possible.1880, John Nichols, The Gentleman’s Magazine, volume 248, page 60
- Having the qualities of a lord; lordlike; noble
- Deep, indeed, / Their debt of thanks to her who first had dared / To leap the rotten pales of prejudice, / Disyoke their necks from custom, and assert / None lordlier than themselves but that which made / Woman and man.1847, Alfred Tennyson, “Part II”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 30
- Appropriate for, or suitable to, a lord; glorious.
- He asked water, and she gaue him milke, shee brought forth butter in a lordly dish.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Judges 5:25
- It had also its Hall, called the Priory—an older, a larger, a more lordly abode than any Briarfield or Whinbury owned; […]1849, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], “The First Blue-Stocking”, in Shirley. A Tale. […], volume III, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, page 77
- Proud; haughty; imperious; insolent.
- Lords are Lordlieſt in thir wine; […]1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 84
Adverb
lordly (comparative lordlier, superlative lordliest)
- In the manner of a lord. Showing command or nobility.
- […] / And Herod's painted pinnaces, ablaze / With lamps, and brazen shields and spangled slaves, / Came and went lordly at Tiberias; / […]1891, Sir Edwin Arnold, The Light of the World: Or, The Great Consummation, Book I — “Mary Magdalene”, Funk & Wagnalls, page 56
- Look at man, then, walking lordly amidst the gigantic flora and fauna of long ago; and see if seven, eight, nine hundred years do not sit serenely on his mighty brow.1925, Claude Kean, Stock Charges Against the Bible, published 2003, page 61
Adjective (2) capitalized: Lordly
Lordly (comparative Lordlier or more Lordly, superlative Lordliest or most Lordly)
- Alternative form of lordly.
Examples of lordly in a sentence
- Samson, in reply to this, says, “If you are not lordly, nor value your lordly title, as you tell me, and I trust in truth and sincerity, shall I call you a phoenix?2011, Thomas Smith, C. Matthew McMahon, Therese B. McMahon, Select Memoirs of the English and Scottish Divines, page 282:
- [H]e's still got his lordly habits, and more so since coming out of the war as a general.' 'A colonel, Sammy,' said Rachel.2011, Mary Jane Staples, Appointment at the Palace: An Adams Family Saga Novel, page 275:
- There was one great tomb more lordly than all the rest.1897, Bram Stoker, “Mina Harker’s Journal”, in Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, →OCLC, chapter XXVII, pages 409–410:
- That night the whisky was unstoppered and Bradly lolled in bed, smoking, and betimes sweeping out an arm of conquest for his nobbler and taking a lordly pull at it.1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 57:
Forms of lordly
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | lordlier |
| comparative | more lordly |
| superlative | lordliest |
| superlative | most lordly |
| alternative form | Lordly |
| comparative | Lordlier |
| comparative | more Lordly |
| superlative | Lordliest |
| superlative | most Lordly |
| Adverb | |
| comparative | lordlier |
| superlative | lordliest |
Origin of lordly
From Middle English lordly, lordlich, from Old English hlāfordlīċ (“lordly; heroic; noble”), equivalent to lord + -ly (forming adjectives).
From Middle English lordly, lordely, lordliche, equivalent to lord + -ly (forming adverbs).
Words formed from lordly
Questions about lordly
- What does lordly mean?
- Lordly means of or relating to a lord.
- How do you use lordly in a sentence?
- Samson, in reply to this, says, “If you are not lordly, nor value your lordly title, as you tell me, and I trust in truth and sincerity, shall I call you a phoenix?
- What part of speech is lordly?
- Lordly can be an adjective or an adverb.
- How do you pronounce lordly?
- Lordly is pronounced /lɔːdli/ (UK).
Words near lordly in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: lordly (page history and authors); Lordly (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-lordly.wav, en-us-lord.ogg.
Cite this entry: “lordly.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lordly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.