paly

P3A1L1Y4
/ˈpeɪli/

adjective

Palewise; vertically striped.

“c. 1857-1873, John Greenleaf Whittier, "The Reformer" Young Romance raised his dreamy eyes, / O'erhung with paly locks of gold.”

UncommonFirst used 16th c.Scrabble 9
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

paly1

adjectivepaly (not comparable)
  1. not comparablegovernmentPalewise; vertically striped.

paly2

adjectivepaly (comparative more paly, superlative most paly)

comparative more paly · superlative most paly

  1. poeticPale; lacking colour.First known use 16th c.

    c. 1857-1873, John Greenleaf Whittier, "The Reformer" Young Romance raised his dreamy eyes, / O'erhung with paly locks of gold.

    2 more examples

    Fain would I go to chafe his paly lips With twenty thousand kisses […].

    1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], line 141

    The paly light of evening falls upon a face infinitely sad and wistful.

    1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 13: Nausicaa]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 336

Origin

paly · adjective

Compare French palé. See pale (“a stake”).

Full word history & related roots →

paly · adjective

From pale + -y.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with paly

dailyIsraelibaileyDaleyHayleykaleHaileyukulelebaillieKayleeceilidhgailytriticaleKayleighcapercaillieKayliegaylyshillelaghKayleybanjoleleKayleawaily
All rhymes →

Anagrams

playpyla
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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