singly
/ˈsɪŋ.ɡli/
singly adverb: in a single or unaccompanied manner; without a companion.
Adverb
singly (not comparable)
- In a single or unaccompanied manner; without a companion.
- Singly, they are every one a representation or appearance of some quality, or other accident of a body without us, which is commonly called an object.1651, Thomas Hobbes, chapter I, in Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme, & Power of a Common-wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civill, London: […] [William Wilson] for Andrew Crooke, […], →OCLC
- The cross, reared now above all other objects, and standing singly out against the sky, was greeted with a burst of delight; […1880 November 12, Lew[is] Wallace, chapter X, in Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC
- Synonyms:
- alone
- Individually; particularly; severally.
- to make men singly and personally good
- Ursula saw that now Bella Watson's chance meetings with him had to be strategically and singly planned by Bella, whose wifely attentions to the bereaved man were markedly meaning.1907, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 211
- Synonyms:
- discretely
- Without partners, companions, or associates; single-handed.
- to attack another singly
- Synonyms:
- unassisted
- Honestly; sincerely; simply.
- Synonyms:
- truly
- Singularly; peculiarly.
- Synonyms:
- oddly
singly meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
singly in Tamil
- தனித்தனி, தனியாக, தனியாகவே
singly in Urdu
- فرداً فرداً
singly in Bengali
- singly, alone
- একলা ekola
singly in Malayalam
- വേറുവേറായി, പ്രത്യേകമായി, തനിയെ, ഒറ്റയൊറ്റയായി
More languagesFewer languages
- singly in Kannada
- ಪ್ರತ್ಯೇಕವಾಗಿ, ಒಬ್ಬನೇ, ಒಂಟಿಯಾಗಿ
- singly in Sanskrit
- ऋधक् ṛ́dhak, पृथक् pṛ́thak
Examples of singly in a sentence
- This even tint was indeed broken up by streaks of yellow sand-break in the lower lands, and by many tall trees of the pine family, out-topping the others—some singly, some in clumps […]1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, “13: How My Shore Adventure Began”, in Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14...
- They dragged themselves from the swamp singly, and in twos and threes, more dead than alive, mere perambulating skeletons, until at last there were thirty of us.1906, Jack London, chapter XVIII, in Before Adam:
Synonyms of singly
Origin of singly
From Middle English senglely. Equivalent to single + -ly.
Words formed from singly
Words that rhyme with singly
Questions about singly
- What does singly mean?
- Singly means in a single or unaccompanied manner; without a companion.
- What is singly in Tamil?
- Singly in Tamil is தனித்தனி, தனியாக, தனியாகவே. See Singly meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use singly in a sentence?
- This even tint was indeed broken up by streaks of yellow sand-break in the lower lands, and by many tall trees of the pine family, out-topping the others—some singly, some in clumps […]
- What part of speech is singly?
- Singly is an adverb.
- How do you pronounce singly?
- Singly is pronounced /ˈsɪŋ.ɡli/.
Words near singly in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: singly (page history and authors); singly (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); singly (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); একলা (Bengali) (page history and authors); singly (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); singly (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ऋधक् (Sanskrit) (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-singly.wav.
Cite this entry: “singly.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/singly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.