archly

A1R1C3H4L1Y4
US/ˈɑɹt͡ʃ.li/

adverb

In an arch manner; slyly.

OriginEnglish arch ← Middle English arch- ← Old English arċe- →
RareScrabble 14
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Meanings

archly1

adverbarchly (comparative more archly, superlative most archly)

comparative more archly · superlative most archly

  1. In an arch manner; slyly.

    Phoebe lay down by me, and ask'd me archly if, now that I had seen the enemy, and fully considered him, I was still afraid of him?

    Fanny Hill

    1749, [John Cleland], “(Please specify the letter or volume)”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], London: […] [Thomas Parker] for G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], →OCLC
    1 more example

    Though he intends it destructively, Rothbard is right that there are relations between the millennial hope for justice he archly calls KGE—Kingdom of God on Earth—and communism.

    2022, China Miéville, chapter 6, in A Spectre, Haunting: On the Communist Manifesto, →OCLC

archly2

adverbarchly (not comparable)
  1. not comparableIn the form of an arch.

    My eyebrows recently plucked archly.

    1984 April 14, Freddie Greenfield, “Spoiling the View”, in Gay Community News, page 19

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂er-der.?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ergʰ-der.?
  3. Ancient Greekἄρχω (árkhō)
  4. Ancient Greekἀρχι- (arkhi-)
  5. Latinarchi-
  6. Old Englisharċe-
  7. Middle Englisharch-
  8. Englisharch-
  9. Englisharch
  10. Englisharchly

From arch + -ly.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan maliciosament
  • maliciosamentin an arch manner
Esperanto malice
  • malicein an arch manner
French malicieusement
  • malicieusementin an arch manner
German verschmitzt, schlau
  • verschmitztin an arch manner
  • schlauin an arch manner
Greek χαιρέκακα
  • χαιρέκακα (chairékaka)in an arch manner
Italian maliziosamente
  • maliziosamentein an arch manner
Polish łobuzersko
  • łobuzerskoin an arch manner
Portuguese maliciosamente
  • maliciosamentein an arch manner
Spanish maliciosamente
  • maliciosamentein an arch manner

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Charly
Cite this entry
APA

archly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/archly

MLA

“archly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/archly. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “archly,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/archly.

Source: archly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.