Word of the Day ·

R1I1C3H4L1Y4

richly

/ˈɹɪt͡ʃli/

adverb

What it means

  1. In a luxurious manner; full of majesty or expression:
    1. In an attractive or manner; full of colour or detail.
      1 more example

      She was a fat, round little woman, richly apparelled in velvet and lace, […]; and the way she laughed, cackling like a hen, the way she talked to the waiters and the maid,[…]—all these unexpected phenomena impelled one to hysterical mirth, and made one class her with such immortally ludicrous types as Ally Sloper, the Widow Twankey, or Miss Moucher.

      1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter II, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC
    2. In a manner that occupies the non-visual senses; flavourfully, deeply.
  2. Done advantageously, done as to be wealthy.

In a sentence

She was a fat, round little woman, richly apparelled in velvet and lace, […]; and the way she laughed, cackling like a hen, the way she talked to the waiters and the maid,[…]—all these unexpected phenomena impelled one to hysterical mirth, and made one class her with such immortally ludicrous types as Ally Sloper, the Widow Twankey, or Miss Moucher.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter II, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

Where it comes from

  1. Proto-Germanic*rīkijalīkô
  2. Proto-West Germanic*rīkīlīkō
  3. Old Englishrīċlīċe
  4. Middle Englishrichely
  5. Englishrichly

Inherited from Middle English richely, from Old English rīċlīċe, from Proto-West Germanic *rīkīlīkō, from Proto-Germanic *rīkijalīkô; by surface analysis, rich + -ly (adverbial suffix).

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