steely
/ˈstiːli/
steely adjective: having qualities resembling those of steel, especially hardness and resoluteness.
Adjective
steely (comparative steelier, superlative steeliest)
- Having qualities resembling those of steel, especially hardness and resoluteness.
- The bully backed down before his steely gaze.
- steely grey hair
- Made of steel.
- Broach'd with the steely point of Clifford's lance.c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
- Around his shop the steely sparkles flew.[1716], [John] Gay, “(please specify the page)”, in Trivia: Or, The Art of Walking the Streets of London, London: […] Bernard Lintott, […], →OCLC
- Synonyms:
- steelen
Proper noun capitalized: Steely
Steely (plural Steelys)
- A surname.
steely meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and Malayalam
steely in Hindi
- steely, strong, unwavering
- फ़ौलादी faulādī
steely in Tamil
- எஃகினாலான
steely in Bengali
- ইস্পাতসম, কঠোর, দৃঢ়
steely in Malayalam
- ഉരുക്കുകൊണ്ടുണ്ടാക്കിയ, ഉരുക്കുപോലെയുളള, കഠിനമായ
Examples of steely in a sentence
- She would unarm her noble heart of that steely resistance against the sweet blows of love.a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors...
- Woodman, the son of former Northampton Town goalkeeper Andy and godson of Southgate, made a steely left-handed save from the spot-kick after Dominic Calvert-Lewin had given England a first-half lead.2017 June 11, Ben Fisher, “England seal Under-20 World Cup glory as Dominic Calvert-Lewin strikes”, in The Guardian:
- And in the master's chambers / They gathered for the feast / They stab it with their steely knives / But they just can't kill the beast1977, “Hotel California”, in Don Henley, Glenn Frey (lyrics), Don Felder and Joe Walsh (music), Hotel California:
Synonyms of steely
Forms of steely
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | steelier |
| superlative | steeliest |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Steelys |
Origin of steely
From steel + -y.
Words formed from steely
Phrases with steely
Words that rhyme with steely
Questions about steely
- What does steely mean?
- Steely means having qualities resembling those of steel, especially hardness and resoluteness.
- What is steely in Hindi?
- Steely in Hindi is फ़ौलादी (faulādī). See Steely meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use steely in a sentence?
- She would unarm her noble heart of that steely resistance against the sweet blows of love.
- What part of speech is steely?
- Steely can be an adjective or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce steely?
- Steely is pronounced /ˈstiːli/.
Words near steely in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: steely (page history and authors); Steely (page history and authors); फ़ौलादी (Hindi) (page history and authors); steely (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); steely (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); steely (Malayalam Wiktionary) (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-steely.ogg.
Cite this entry: “steely.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/steely. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.