Word.ws English Dictionary

thusly

/ˈðʌs.li/

thusly adverb: thus (in this way).

Adverb

thusly (not comparable)

  1. (proscribed) thus (in this way).
    • Ar, tell me it is not so thusly as this thusness wouldst seem!1865, Hingston, editor, Artemus Ward (His Travels) Among the Mormons
    • His course can only be akkounted for thusly:1866, Petroleum V. Nasby, Life of Androo Johnson
  2. (proscribed) thus (therefore)
    • Lately, they [the prison authorities] came up with a new excuse. Seems like they consider owning a Gay publication is an expression of a person's sexuality and would thusly identify the person as a homosexual which would then subject him to assault or pressures.1976 August 21, Calvin Keach, quotee, “Leavenworth, Again”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 8, page 2

Examples of thusly in a sentence

  • Stories never lose anything in the recital, and consequently this one grew thusly.1893, Isabel Burton, The Life of Captain Sir Richard F. Burton KCMG, FRGS, volume II:
  • The history of the Universe has been summed up thusly: "Hydrogen is a light, odorless gas, which, given enough time, turns into people."1995 December, John P. Wiley Jr, quoting Edward R. Harrison, Smithsonian Magazine

Origin of thusly

From thus + -ly, dating from the 19th century, seemingly coined by educated writers to make fun of uneducated persons trying to sound genteel, with a false inference that thus is not an adverb.

Questions about thusly

What does thusly mean?
Thusly means thus (in this way).
How do you use thusly in a sentence?
Stories never lose anything in the recital, and consequently this one grew thusly.
What part of speech is thusly?
Thusly is an adverb.
How do you pronounce thusly?
Thusly is pronounced /ˈðʌs.li/ (UK).

Words near thusly in the dictionary

  1. thusfar
  2. thusfore
  3. thushi
  4. thushis
  5. Thusis
  6. thusly
  7. thusness
  8. thusnesses
  9. thussies
  10. thussock
  11. thussocks

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: thusly (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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