manly

comparative manlier · superlative manliest

1. Having the characteristics of a man.

   what God or Feend, or ſpirit of the earth, Or Monſter turned to a manly ſhape, Or of what mould or mettel he be made, What ſtar or ſtate ſoeuer gouern him, Let vs put on our meet incountering mindes, […]

   c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene vi

2. Having qualities viewed as befitting a man; masculine, manful, courageous, resolute, noble.

   Let's briefly put on manly readiness.

   c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]

   4 more examples

   Serene and manly, harden'd to sustain / The load of life.

   1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Fifteenth Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC

   "I hope that she will be as happy as I should have tried to make her," said Enniscorthy rather shakily. […] "A very manly way of taking it and very properly expressed—very well indeed," declared Mr. Carlyle with warm approval as the door closed. "Max, that is the outcome of good blood—blood and breeding."

   1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC

   Without a successful defense of one's city, none of the other virtues would be possible; manly courage seems to be a precondition for anything else worth achieving in life.

   2001, Thomas W. Smith, Revaluing Ethics: Aristotle's Dialectical Pedagogy, page 86

   Curious, Courtney opened up the little black book and flipped several pages before coming to one where the names hadn't yet been lined through. The first was Harper Isaac. Mmm, the name sounded manly.

   2008 April, Brenda Jackson, Her Little Black Book, St. Martin's Griffin, →ISBN, page 16

1. In a way befitting a man.

   [Y]ou will not only confer a favor on them but if appointed will add two Officers to our Army who will fight manly to defend their Country.

   1812 February 4, Reuben Attwater, “From Reuben Attwater”, in Stephen R[ow] Bradley, edited by Dorr Bradley Carpenter, Stephen R. Bradley: Letters of a Revolutionary War Patriot and Vermont Senator, Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, published 2009, →ISBN, “Correspondence, 1771 to 1831” section, page 333

   2 more examples

   “[…] Permit me to bandage it, while, at the same time, I tell you how well Hamet did leading the charge.” “Did he?” Eaton questioned. “He did! and he did it manly! Our rightful heir for once behaved more like a ruler than I ever would have imagined. I believe he won quite a few converts this day.”

   2001 September 27, Raymond F. Aubé, chapter 31, in Across Troubled Waters, [Bloomington, Ind.]: 1stBooks, →ISBN, page 625

   The crowd loves those who fight manly and nobly, but it laughs at those who are pathetic cowards. If any gladiator were to run off at the mere sight of his opponent raising his sword, he would be mocked as feeble and effeminate and inexperienced.

   2014, Jerry Toner, “How to Be a Roman”, in The Day Commodus Killed a Rhino: Understanding the Roman Games (Witness to Ancient History), Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, →ISBN, page 90

   Synonyms: manlily

plural Manlys

1. A surname.
2. A suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.