Word.ws English Dictionary

pertly

pertly adverb: in a manner that is lively or high-spirited.

Adverb

pertly (comparative more pertly, superlative most pertly)

  1. In a manner that is lively or high-spirited
    • "Dearie, you aren't going to go and get peevish, are you?" She spoke pertly. He wanted to spank her.1922, Sinclair Lewis, “24”, in Babbitt
    • ‘There ain’t no serviettes,’ said the waitress, pertly.1933, Frank Clune, Try Anything Once, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 168

Forms of pertly

comparativemore pertly
superlativemost pertly

Origin of pertly

From pert + -ly.

Questions about pertly

What does pertly mean?
Pertly means in a manner that is lively or high-spirited.
What part of speech is pertly?
Pertly is an adverb.

Words near pertly in the dictionary

  1. pertinentness
  2. pertinents
  3. perting
  4. pertingent
  5. pertish
  6. pertly
  7. pertness
  8. pertnesses
  9. pertook
  10. pertransient
  11. pertrochanteric

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: pertly (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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