lovelily

love·li·ly
L1O1V4E1L1I1L1Y4
UK/ˈlʌvlɪli/US/ˈlʌvləli/

adverb

In a manner to excite or inspire admiration or love; admirably, beautifully, wonderfully.

OriginMiddle English lovelily ← Old English luflīċ ← Proto-Germanic *leubalīkaz →
Scrabble 14
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

adverblovelily (comparative more lovelily, superlative most lovelily)

comparative more lovelily · superlative most lovelily

  1. In a lovely way.
    1. In a manner to excite or inspire admiration or love; admirably, beautifully, wonderfully.

      So lovelily the morning shone, / That—let the old and weary sleep— / I could not; […]

      1813 December 2 (date written), Lord Byron, “Canto I. Stanza III.”, in The Bride of Abydos. A Turkish Tale, London: […] Thomas Davison, […], for John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 4, lines 57–59
      3 more examples

      By continually doing the part of Sacrificers, and eſpecially by turning all the Good Things of Earth into Sacrifices, a Converſation in Heaven vvill be moſt Lovelily Exemplifyed.

      1723, Cotton Mather, “Cœlestinus. Heaven Convers’d Withal. The Sixth Essay.”, in Cœlestinus. A Conversation in Heaven, Quickened and Assisted, with Discoveries of Things in the Heavenly World. […], Boston, Mass.: […] S[amuel] Kneeland, for Nath[aniel] Belknap, […], →OCLC, pages 117–118

      Courage, a Youth of royal race, / Lovelily ſtern, poſſeſs'd a place / On her left-hand, and on her right, / Sat Honour, cloath'd vvith robes of Light; […]

      1764, C[harles] Churchill, “Book I”, in The Duellist. A Poem. […], London: […] G. Kearsly, […]; W[illiam] Flexney, […]; J. Coote, […]; C. Henderson, […]; J. Gardiner, […]; and J. Almon, […], →OCLC, page 23

      Whatso looks lovelily / Is but the rainbow on life's weeping rain. / Why have we longings of immortal pain, / And all we long for mortal?

      1889, Francis Thompson, “Ode to the Setting Sun”, in The Works of Francis Thompson, volume I (Poems), New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons […], published 1913, →OCLC, page 125
    2. obsoleteIn a friendly or pleasant manner; amiably, kindly, pleasantly.

      Moreover hovv lovelily do the Graces cling to one another! Hovv vvell does their garment become them, being not girt to them vvith any girdle, the skirts of it vvaving to and fro at liberty.

      1671, Desiderius Erasmus, “The Wedding Song”, in H. M. [attributed to Henry More or Henry Munday], transl., The Colloquies, or Familiar Discourses of Desiderius Erasmus of Roterdam, […], London: […] E[van] T[yler] and R[alph] H[olt] for H[enry] Brome, B[enjamin] Tooke, and T[homas] Sawbridge, […], →OCLC, page 245

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*lewbʰ-“to admire; to covet, desire, want; to love; to praise”
  2. Proto-Germanic*leubalīkaz“lovely”
  3. Old Englishluflīċ“amiable, dear, likable, pleasant, lovely; worthy of love, lovable”
  4. Middle Englishlovelily
  5. Englishlovelily

From Middle English lovelily, lovelyly (“in a friendly manner, graciously, kindly; beautifully; in a seemly manner, with decorum (?)”) [and other forms], from loveli, lovely (“affectionate, friendly, kind; admirable, excellent; amorous; beautiful, lovely; lovable; proper, seemly (?)”, adjective) (from Old English luflīċ (“amiable, dear, likable, pleasant, lovely; worthy of love, lovable”), from Proto-Germanic *leubalīkaz (“lovely”), from *leubaz (“beloved, dear”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- (“to admire; to covet, desire, want; to love; to praise”)) + -li (suffix forming adverbs). The English word is analysable as lovely + -ly (suffix forming adverbs).

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

lovelily. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lovelily

MLA

“lovelily.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lovelily. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lovelily,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lovelily.

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