readerly

R1E1A1D2E1R1L1Y4

adjective

Characteristic of readers.

Scrabble 12
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

adjectivereaderly (comparative more readerly, superlative most readerly)

comparative more readerly · superlative most readerly

  1. Characteristic of readers.

    It+was+an+extraordinary+display+of+true+readerly+love+—+a+bunch+of+buffs+giving+a+contemporary+genre+writer+the+Shakespearean+variorum+treatment+on+their+own+time.

    2009 July 19, Carlo Rotella, “The Genre Artist”, in New York Times
  2. Of or relating to the reader.

    Nevertheless, the dream element and over power to haunt come at a certain readerly price. The poem abounds in passages that will leave an unprepared audience bewildered.

    1999, Seamus Heaney, “Introduction”, in Beowulf, London: Faber and Faber, page xiii

Origin

From reader + -ly.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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