Meanings
comparative more meekly · superlative most meekly
- In a meek manner; quietly and humbly.
When Faith and Love which parted from thee never Had ripen'd thy just soul to dwell with God, Meekly thou did'st resign this earthly load Of Death, call'd Life; which us from Life doth sever.
1673, John Milton, When Faith and Love which parted from thee never1 more example
It comes from the Latin insurgo, meaning “to rise up within”: so insurrectionists are, etymologically, the same as “insurgents”, even if that is normally a word for those who do not meekly accept western military rule.
2021 January 13, Steven Poole, “'Insurrection': how an old word for an old thing was Trumped”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 20 Jan 2021
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbin a humble manner
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishmekely
- Englishmeekly
From Middle English mekely, mekeliche, equivalent to meek + -ly. Compare Old Norse mjúkliga.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
French humblement
- humblementquietly
Polish arcyskromnie
- arcyskromniequietly
Russian смире́нно, кро́тко
- смире́нно (smirénno)quietly
- кро́тко (krótko)quietly
Spanish mansamente
- mansamentequietly
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with meekly
All rhymes →Cite this entry
meekly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meekly
“meekly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meekly. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “meekly,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meekly.
Source: meekly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.