quilly

Q10U1I1L1L1Y4
UK/ˈkwɪli/

adjective

Pertaining to or resembling a quill.

First used 16th c.Scrabble 18
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Meanings

adjectivequilly (comparative more quilly, superlative most quilly)

comparative more quilly · superlative most quilly

  1. Pertaining to or resembling a quill.First known use 16th c.

    The fabrick of the wing, as it appears through a moderately magnifying Microscope, seems to be a body consisting of two parts […]; the one is a quilly or finny substance, consisting of several long, slender and variously bended quills or wires, something resembling the veins of leaves […].

    1665, Robert Hooke, Micrographia, section XXXVIII
  2. With quills; quilled.First known use 18th c.

    […] sometimes you may even run across a quilly ball lying right on top of the ledge, or catch one of the numerous porcupine family picking its way leisurely among the rocks.

    2005, Jean M. Thompson, Wild Kindred of Fur, Feather and Fin, page 79

Origin

From quill + -y.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with quilly

chilebillysillychiliwillielillywillyPhillychillyChantillytillyhillyfillyfrillydillyshrillyghillieBilliguiltilygillieKillieskillyCincinnati chilimolehilly
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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