ruly
Syllables: ru·ly/ˈɹuːli/
ruly adjective: pitiable; miserable.
Adjective (1)
ruly (comparative rulier or more ruly, superlative ruliest or most ruly)
Adverb
ruly (comparative rulier or more ruly, superlative ruliest or most ruly)
Adjective (2)
ruly (comparative rulier, superlative ruliest)
- Neat and orderly.
- What is certain is that everything they see is strange: the lifeless neatness of the courtyard, the straightness of the paths, the ruly gang of labourers in their dull uniforms and with their ageless, polished faces.2022, Jim Crace, eden, Picador, page 224
- 1610: John Marston, Histrio-Mastix, page 28 (quarto): [Perpetuana:] Nay Ile be matchlesse for a carckanet,/Whose Pearles and Diamonds plac'd with ruly rocks/Shall circle this faire necke to set it forth [.]
Forms of ruly
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | rulier |
| comparative | more ruly |
| superlative | ruliest |
| superlative | most ruly |
| Adverb | |
| comparative | rulier |
| comparative | more ruly |
| superlative | ruliest |
| superlative | most ruly |
Origin of ruly
From Middle English rewly, ruly, rewely, reweliche, from Old English hrēowlīċ (“grievous, pitiful, sad, wretched, cruel”), equivalent to rue + -ly.
From Middle English rewly, reoly, reowliche, from Old English hrēowlīċe (“cruelly”), equivalent to rue + -ly.
Back-formation from unruly, or perhaps a continuation of Middle English rewly, ruly, reuli (“subject to a religious rule, regular”), equivalent to rule + -ly, rule + -y; or perhaps from Old French rulé, reulé, rieulé (“ruled”), past participle of rieuler (“to rule”). More at rule.
Words formed from ruly
Words that rhyme with ruly
Questions about ruly
- What does ruly mean?
- Ruly means pitiable; miserable.
- What part of speech is ruly?
- Ruly can be an adjective or an adverb.
- How do you pronounce ruly?
- Ruly is pronounced /ˈɹuːli/.
Words near ruly in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ruly (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)-Mélange a trois-ruly.wav.
Cite this entry: “ruly.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ruly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.