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bigly

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bigly¹

  • /ˈbɪɡ.li/ US, UK

Rhymes with -ɪɡli

Where it comes from

From Middle English bygly, byggly, biggely. By surface analysis, big (“of great size, large (adjective); to a large extent, on a large scale; hard (adverb)”) + -ly.

adverb more bigly · most bigly · biglie · bygly

  1. archaic In a big way, greatly; to a great extent, on a large scale. He looked at Mrs. Harling, who loomed bigly in the dull light.
  2. archaic Strongly, with great force. Thesse men did much in order to publicke good, befor they spake biglie; bot done nothing since, saue that they haue drawin away considerable forces, raissed at wast charges for the publicke defence.
  3. archaic In a blustering or boastful manner; haughtily, pompously. Would'ſt thou not rather chooſe a ſmall renown, / To be the mayor of ſome poor paltry town, / Bigly to look, and barbarouſly to ſpeak; / To pound falſe weights, and ſcanty meaſures break?

adjective more bigly · most bigly · biglie · bygly

  1. humorous, nonstandard Big league. It had been the very bestest of bigly weekends. Two rounds of golf at his very own course in Turnberry.

bigly²

  • /ˈbɪɡ.li/ US, UK

Rhymes with -ɪɡli

Where it comes from

From Middle English bygly, biglie, byggly (“comfortable, stately, perfect”), borrowed from Old Norse byggiligr, byggviligr (“habitable”); equivalent to big (“to build, construct, live in, reside, dwell”) + -ly. Cognate with Icelandic byggilegur (“inhabitable, liveable”).

adjective more bigly · most bigly · biglie · bygly

  1. Scotland Habitable, liveable; hence delightful, pleasant, pleasing. "And steek it weel, thy biglie bower, / And by the rood thee sain; / And tell thy bedes in haly guise, / Till this ae night is gane!"

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MLA

"bigly." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/bigly. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

bigly. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/bigly

Chicago

"bigly." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/bigly.

BibTeX
@misc{bigly_2026,
  title = {bigly},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/bigly},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}