Meanings
comparative booklier · comparative more bookly · superlative bookliest · superlative most bookly
- Of or pertaining to books; literary.
But I shall not spoil for anyone the delight of discovering that most bookly of bookly books.
1920, George Steele Seymour, Adventures with books and autographs2 more examples
As you received this and many other bookly treasures, all for the small annual fee of one dollar, […]
1919, Flora Warren Seymour, The Step Ladder: Volumes 1-5, BookfellowsPublishes books for bookly minded folk and THE STEP LADDER, a monthly journal of bookly ascent.
1926, Henry Louis Mencken, The American mercury: Volume 9 - Learned from books; bookish; by-the-book.
He has with him his secretary, who speak the Spanish in a very bookly manner.
1932, Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association, Improvement era: Volume 36
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Old Englishbōclīċ“of or belonging to a book, scientific, biblical, scriptural”
- Middle English*bocli
- Englishbookly
From Middle English *bocli, from Old English bōclīċ (“of or belonging to a book, scientific, biblical, scriptural”); equivalent to book + -ly. Cognate with Danish boglig (“bookish”), Swedish boklig (“bookish, literary”).
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
bookly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bookly
“bookly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bookly. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bookly,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bookly.
Source: bookly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.