rightly so

right·ly so
UK/ˌɹaɪtli ˈsəʊ/US/ˌɹaɪtli ˈsoʊ/

adverb

In a manner that is factual or just; correctly, fairly, justly, truly; also, in a manner acceptable or excusable in the circumstances; understandably.

Meanings

adverbrightly so (not comparable)
  1. not comparableIn a manner that is factual or just; correctly, fairly, justly, truly; also, in a manner acceptable or excusable in the circumstances; understandably.

    His name is hight Pollente, rightly ſo / For that he is ſo puiſſant and ſtrong, / That vvith his povvre he all doth ouergo, / And makes them ſubiect to his mighty vvrong; […]

    1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 7, page 198
    3 more examples

    [T]he victor does not acquire the regal rights even of a conquered and captured King, unless he has won those rights by arms also or has obtained them by agreement. […] The same must be admitted if it be an absolute monarch who falls into the power of his enemy, as Bazajet [i.e., Bayezid I] fell into the power of Tamerlane [i.e., Timur]; and this is rightly so, since captivity is comparable to death, […]

    1916, Johann Wolfgang Textor, “Of the Rights of a Victor over the Vanquished and Their Property”, in John Pawley Bate, transl., Synopsis of the Law of Nations, volume 2 (The Translation), Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Institution of Washington, →OCLC, page 307

    [T]his is the legitimate outburst of someone who, having been ironically reprimanded for inventing ingenuous errors, [he] will have to allow the errors of others to pass, when what he is tempted to do, and rightly so, is to fill the margins of the page with a flurry of indignant deleaturs, […]

    1996, José Saramago, translated by Giovanni Pontiero, History of the Siege Of Lisbon […] (A Harvest Book), New York, N.Y.: Harcourt Brace & Company, →ISBN, page 32

    Italy's progress throughout Euro 2020 has been gathering momentum from their opening win against Turkey and after overcoming Belgium and Spain in the knockout stage they will fear no-one and rightly so.

    2021 July 6, Phil McNulty, “Italy Beat Spain on Penalties: ‘Pure Theatre as Italy Present Formidable Obstacle in Final’”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 29 Apr 2024

    Synonyms: with good reason

Synonyms & antonyms

adverbIn a manner that is factual or just; correctly, fairly, justly, truly; also, in a manner acceptable or excusable in the circumstances; understandably.

Origin

PIE word *swé From rightly + so (“in a particular manner”).

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with rightly so

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

rightly so. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rightly%20so

MLA

“rightly so.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rightly%20so. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rightly so,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rightly%20so.

Source: rightly so on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.