How to use goodly in a sentence

20 example sentences · adjective, adverb

Goodly means good; pleasing in appearance; attractive; comely; graceful; pleasant; desirable. Example: “I’ve not taken her out of a goodly long while.”

Examples of goodly by meaning

adjectiveQuite large; considerable; sufficient; adequate; more than enough.

a goodly sum of money
walking at a goodly pace
Like any kid who played a game or two in school, I happened early on a golden rule: if I ate a goodly amount, I had better wait a goodly time before starting play—at least half an hour, preferably more.2014, Dilip D’souza, Final Test

adverbWell; excellently.

I know doin' marriage is tough and hard to pull off for a long time, but from what I has been led to believe, you two was doin' it quite goodly.2011, Dawn French, Dear Fatty

More sentences with goodly

I’ve not taken her out of a goodly long while.From the entry of
Not into the sunset but into the sunrising did he love to sail some goodly black-hulled ship.1919, Lucas Malet, Deadham Hard. From the entry sunrising
Agamemnon, a goodly king and a mighty spearsman, is the Greek warrior whose name thou dost ask.1909, Various, Young Folks Treasury, Volume 3 (of 12). From the entry spearsman
It is cornersome, but goodly; intricate, but interesting, and worth the learning.1904, John Walter Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu Montagu (2nd Baron), The Best Ways Out of London. From the entry cornersome
She needed a goodly pile to fuel her washtubs.2013, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 1st edition, Milkweed Editions, →ISBN, page 74. From the entry washing
A goodly number of these officers gathered nightly at the Crown and Anchor, where drink often loosened their lips.1994 August, Violet Hamilton, chapter 11, in Fabia's Choice, Zebra Books, page 144. From the entry loosen someone's lips
We cited a goodly number of synonyms, some of them may seem superfluous, but I thought of linguists interested in phytonymy.1993, J. A. J. Verheijen, Glossary of Taxonomic-Indonesian Plant Names, page 4. From the entry phytonymy
As for yon clod of clay, we will bury it later, lest it should pollute so goodly a pool.1903, Warwick Deeping, Uther and Igraine. From the entry clod
Returning day-trippers make up a goodly number, along with young people heading for a night out in Bristol, which is where I change once again.2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 66. From the entry change
Sara surveyed his goodly proportions consideringly.1920, Margaret Pedler, The Hermit of Far End. From the entry consideringly
He, love-sick? ’Tis a goodly jest!1919, Max Beerbohm, “‘Savonarola’ Brown”, in Seven Men, London: William Heinemann, →OCLC, page 186. From the entry misogyn
Yeah, a guy like that, a certain number of folks, a goodly number of ’em, I’d say, they think he’s a prick, like, see what I’m sayin’?2005, Jeffrey Miller, “I Say Banana, You Say Tomato”, in Murder’s Out of Tune (Amicus Curiae Mystery), ECW Press, →ISBN, section A (’Til…. From the entry excuse my français
Us perkened so, staring at each other, not rightly knowing one the other—such a goodly percentage of familiar skin now been quenched back of hiding cloth.2001, Allan Gurganus, Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All, page 599. From the entry perken
In the evening, do not forget that the lamps and gaslights are using up a goodly supply of oxygen also—so freshen things up a little, once in awhile.1904, Yogi Ramacharaka [pseudonym; William Walker Atkinson], “Fresh Air”, in Hatha Yoga: Or The Yogi Philosophy of Physical Well-being…. From the entry gaslight
I should have kept it at just one, though, as they were stuffed with jack and cheddar cheese, lettuce, a mild, homemade salsa along with goodly sized chucks of chicken.1999 April 14, Bruce Maulden, “New Jalapeño’s owners continue tradition for great, tasty food”, in Five Cities Times-Press-Recorder…. From the entry wolve down
For all the rich array and goodly port and countenance of Corinius, he seemed but a very boor beside the Lord Brandoch Daha, and dearly did each hate the other.1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 30. From the entry boor

Meaning of goodly

adjective Good; pleasing in appearance; attractive; comely; graceful; pleasant; desirable.
adjective Quite large; considerable; sufficient; adequate; more than enough.
adverb In a goodly way; courteously, graciously.

Full definition of goodly

Questions about goodly in a sentence

How do you use goodly in a sentence?: Goodly is used as an adjective and adverb. For example: “I’ve not taken her out of a goodly long while.”
What is a short sentence with goodly?: “a goodly sum of money”
What does goodly mean?: Goodly means good; pleasing in appearance; attractive; comely; graceful; pleasant; desirable.

Adapted from Wiktionary: goodly (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use goodly in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/goodly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.