Meanings
comparative more stagely · superlative most stagely
- obsoleteSuited or related to the stage; theatrical.
But Tuthill I perfectly understood, and his fine acting was stagely and amusing.
1864, James Junius Marks, The Peninsular Campaign in Virginia, page 4004 more examples
We started out of the vestibule with, I should say, rather an accelerated movement, and looked at the dome against the clear, soft blue, afternoon sky, and saw that was all right; whereupon one of the party in a deep stagely tone began "Hark from the tombs a doleful sound," looking at the ornamental coffin on the verandah.
1877, Julia A. Stone, Illustrated India: Its Princes and People, page 460The intrepid Shields, a general in two wars and Senator from three States, and Clement C. Clay, whose stately dignity never forgot its austere bearing, walked arm-in-arm, with stagely strut that failed to impress the moving concourse with the vanity of either, but in twain “made both more grandly so."
1898, Samuel Clagett Busey, Pictures of the City of Washington in the Past, page 252Close by stood Dr. P., knife in hand, lecturing to the students in his rather stagely manner.
1916, Arthur Ames Bliss, Blockley Days, page 24All the gestures, all the moves in this place seemed as if they had been rehearsed for the cabaret scenes in To Have and Have Not, forty years before, and were now endlessly being reenacted—parodied—by an aging company of geriatrics with time on their hands and nothing else to do but perfect their stagely business, while they quietly drank and smoked the day away.
2010, Jim Nisbet, A Moment of Doubt, page 81 - chiefly non-native speakers' EnglishOccurring in stages.
These sets are made by stagely reduction of the known-at-the-moment-of-study information attacks, methods of compression and file objects by using of matrix transformations.
2008, Dimitrina Polimirova-Nickolova, Eugene Nickolov, “Analysis of Information Security of Objects under Attacks and Processed by Methods of Compression”, in Institute of Mathematics and Informatics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, volume 2, number 22 more examples
Glaciation in the Alps instead of displaying moraines of four Glacial cycles may be actually represented by the tills of only one cycle, the four now recognized being merely stagely phenomena.
1932, Charles Reuben Keyes, The Pan-American Geologist, page 114Stagely integration for real machines is connected with difficulties, caused by small relative length of each of these stages and the necessity of approximation of various active resistance under the brush edges.
1998, Bulletin of the Georgian Academy of Sciences, page 33
comparative more stagely · superlative most stagely
- In a stagey or theatrical manner.
Therefore in its elaboration, Drama is a stagely enacted play of the characters created by a cast of […]
1993, Panjab University Research Bulletin: Arts - Volume 24, page 122 more examples
He was a priggish old party too, celebrated for walking up to his pupils and for whispering stagely, after a salute with the foil, “This, sir, is not so much a School of Arms as a School of Politeness."
1898, Lady Isabel Burton, William Henry Wilkins, The Life of Captain Sir Richard F. Burton, page 48Miss Sarah Brooke, Mr. Dion Boucicault, and Mr. Laurence Irving play as of the stage, stagely, but are, of course, absolutely sound, firm, and hold the audience with an iron hand.
1906 May 23, ““Raffles" at the Comedy”, in The Bystander, volume 10, number 129, page 368 - nonstandardproscribednon-native speakers' EnglishIn stages;
With present microsurgical techniques these lesions can be removed stagely and totally.
2015 February 16, Dasara Kodanda Giri Rao, K Babji, “To evaluate resectability and outcome of intra cranial meningiomas: a prospective study (between Nov 2006-Nov 2014)”, in Journal of Evolution of Medical and Dental Sciences, volume 4, number 142 more examples
For preparation of complex esters the etherification was carried out stagely (two or three stages)
2008, F.Kh. Aliyeva, “New Types of Synthetic Lubricating Oils on the Base of Esters of Alkenylsuccinic Acids”, in Processes of petrochemistry and oil refining, volume 2, number 34In order to get the idea result of processing, the ore must be grinded^([sic]) and concentrated stagely.
2011 October, Xiu Li Han, Chang Cun Li, LN Liu, Ming Yan Yao, Xin Fu Liu, “Research on Technological Mineralogy of Refractory Hematite Ore”, in Applied Mechanics and Materials, volumes 117-119
Origin
Cite this entry
stagely. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stagely
“stagely.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stagely. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “stagely,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stagely.
Source: stagely on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.