Meanings
comparative gladlier · comparative more gladly · superlative gladliest · superlative most gladly
- In a glad manner; happily.
'Find me a job and I'll gladly go to work.'
1985, Joan Morrison, chapter 4, in Share House Blues, Boolarong Publications, page 441 more example
As a political system democracy seems to me extraordinarily foolish, but I would not go out of my way to protest against it. My servant is, so far as I am concerned, welcome to as many votes as he can get. I would very gladly make mine over to him if I could.
1915, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, →OCLCSynonyms: cheerfully, gaily, blessedly, bubblingly, chearfully, cheerfully, cheerily, cheerly
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbIn a glad manner; happily.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*gladaz
- Proto-West Germanic*glad
- Old Englishglæd
- Proto-Indo-European*leyg-
- Proto-Germanic*līką
- Old Englishglædlīċe
- Middle Englishgladly
- Englishgladly
Inherited from Middle English gladly (“joyousuly, voluntarily, easily”), from Old English glædlīċe (“gladly, pleasantly, kindly”), from glæd (“glad, bright”) + -līċe. Compare Danish glædelig (“joyful”), Icelandic gleðilegur (“delightful”). More at glad, -ly.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans graag
- graagwillingly, certainly
Ancient Greek ἡδέως, ἡδέως
- ἡδέως (hēdéōs)in a glad manner
- ἡδέως (hēdéōs)willingly, certainly
Bulgarian охотно
- охотно (ohotno)in a glad manner
Catalan gustosament
- gustosamentin a glad manner
Danish gerne
- gernewillingly, certainly
Dutch gaarne, graag
- gaarnein a glad manner
- graagin a glad manner
- met plezierin a glad manner
- graagwillingly, certainly
Esperanto volonte
- volontewillingly, certainly
Finnish iloisesti, mielellään
- iloisestiin a glad manner
- mielelläänwillingly, certainly
French heureusement, volontiers
- heureusementin a glad manner
- volontiersin a glad manner
- volontierswillingly, certainly
German gern, gern
- gernin a glad manner
- gernwillingly, certainly
Greek ευχαρίστως, ευχαρίστως
- ευχαρίστως (efcharístos)in a glad manner
- ευχαρίστως (efcharístos)willingly, certainly
Hindi सहर्ष, प्रसन्नतापूर्वक
- सहर्ष (saharṣ)in a glad manner
- प्रसन्नतापूर्वक (prasannatāpūrvak)in a glad manner
- प्रसन्नतापूर्वक (prasannatāpūrvak)willingly, certainly
Hungarian szívesen, örömmel
- szívesenin a glad manner
- örömmelin a glad manner
- örömmelwillingly, certainly
Icelandic gjarnan, gjarna
- gjarnanin a glad manner
- gjarnain a glad manner
Italian volentieri, volentieri
- volentieriin a glad manner
- volentieriwillingly, certainly
Korean 기꺼이
- 기꺼이 (gikkeoi)in a glad manner
Latin libenter, libenter
- libenterin a glad manner
- libenterwillingly, certainly
Lithuanian džiaugsmingai
- džiaugsmingaiin a glad manner
Norwegian Bokmål gjerne
- gjernewillingly, certainly
Polish chętnie, ochoczo
- chętniewillingly, certainly
- ochoczowillingly, certainly
- skwapliwiewillingly, certainly
Portuguese com prazer, de boa vontade
- com prazerin a glad manner
- de boa vontadein a glad manner
- com prazerwillingly, certainly
Russian охо́тно, ра́достно
- охо́тно (oxótno)in a glad manner
- ра́достно (rádostno)in a glad manner
- с удово́льствием (s udovólʹstvijem)in a glad manner
Spanish gustosamente, a solaz
- gustosamentein a glad manner
- a solazin a glad manner
- de buena ganawillingly, certainly
- gustosamentewillingly, certainly
Swedish gärna, gärna
- gärnain a glad manner
- gärnawillingly, certainly
Ukrainian ра́до, ра́до
- ра́до (rádo)in a glad manner
- ра́до (rádo)willingly, certainly
- охо́че (oxóče)willingly, certainly
- залюбки́ (zaljubký)willingly, certainly
- із задово́ленням (iz zadovólennjam)willingly, certainly
- з ра́дістю (z rádistju)willingly, certainly
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with gladly
All rhymes →Cite this entry
gladly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gladly
“gladly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gladly. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gladly,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gladly.
Source: gladly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.