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goodly

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goodly¹

  • /ˈɡʊdli/

Rhymes with -ʊdli

Where it comes from

From Middle English goodly, goodlich, gōdlich, from Old English gōdlīċ (“good, goodly”), from Proto-West Germanic *gōdalīk, from Proto-Germanic *gōdalīkaz (“good, goodly”); equivalent to good + -ly. Cognate with Dutch goedelijk, goelijk (“harmless, benign”), German gütlich (“friendly”), Icelandic góðlegur (“benign”).

adjective goodlier · goodliest

  1. dated Good; pleasing in appearance; attractive; comely; graceful; pleasant; desirable. Her goodly thighs, whoſe glory did appear, / Like a triumphal Arch,[…]
  2. Quite large; considerable; sufficient; adequate; more than enough. a goodly sum of money

goodly²

  • /ˈɡʊdli/

Rhymes with -ʊdli

Where it comes from

From Middle English goodly, goodliche, gōdliche, from Old English gōdlīċe (“goodly”), from the adjective; equivalent to good + -ly. Cognate with Middle High German guotlīche, güetlīche.

adverb goodlier · goodliest

  1. obsolete In a goodly way; courteously, graciously. Thenne he sente for the thre knyghtes & they came afore hym / and he cryed hem mercy of that he had done to them / and they forgaf hit hym goodely and he dyed anone
  2. dialectal, obsolete Well; excellently. For love of vertue and of martial praise; To which though nobly ye inclined are, (As goodlie well ye shew'd in late assaies)

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MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX
@misc{goodly_2026,
  title = {goodly},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/goodly},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}