churly

C3H4U1R1L1Y4
UK/ˈtʃɜːli/US/ˈt͡ʃɝli/

adjective

rude; churlish; violent

OriginMiddle English cherly →
Scrabble 14
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Meanings

adjectivechurly (comparative churlier, superlative churliest)

comparative churlier · superlative churliest

  1. archaicrude; churlish; violent

    He was the churliest of the churls; Little he cared for king or earls; Bitter as home-brewed ale were his foaming passions

    1863 November 23, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “The Musician’s Tale. The Saga of King Olaf.”, in Tales of a Wayside Inn, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC

Origin

  1. Middle Englishcherly
  2. Englishchurly

From Middle English cherly, cherlich, cherllich, charlyche, equivalent to churl + -ly, but often interpreted as churl + -y. Compare English churlish.

More words from Middle English

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with churly

earlyShirleycurlygirlyburleypearlysurlyburlyEarleyBuehrlehurlysquirrellybright and earlyChristmas come earlyhurly-burlyknurlyquirlyuncurly
All rhymes →

Anagrams

lurchy
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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