Meanings
comparative sweetlier · comparative more sweetly · superlative sweetliest · superlative most sweetly
- With a sweet taste or aroma.
- In a sweet or pleasant manner.
"No, Auntie," said Hardman, sweetly, seriously.
1958, Anthony Burgess, The Enemy in the Blanket (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 2321 more example
"Hey, Sis, do yah want a Hertz Donut?" one of them sweetly said as the other one held out a donut bag. She reached for it. Her step-sister snatched the bag away and socked her hard in the arm instead. "Hurts, Don't it?" they chime, laughing at her pain.
2006, Carmen Portnoy, The Money Pie: A Recipe for Women Investors, page 6 - Nicely; finely; excellently.
Sitting in the seat with the engine off before that day, the gears slid in so sweetly, and double de-clutching was so easy, I had done it a million times.
2000, Bob Foster, Birdum or Bust!, Henley Beach, SA: Seaview Press, page 21
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbin an affectionate or loving manner (‘sweet’ is sometimes a poetic or informal variant of ‘sweetly’)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishswētlīċe“sweetly; pleasantly”
- Middle Englishswetly
- Englishsweetly
From Middle English swetly, swetely, sweteliche, from Old English swētlīċe (“sweetly; pleasantly”), equivalent to sweet + -ly. Cognate with Old High German swuozlīhho (“sweetly”), Icelandic sætlega (“sweetly; with gratitude”), German süßlich (“sweetish; sugary”), Dutch zoetelijk (“sentimental”).
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan dolçament
- dolçamentin a sweet or pleasant manner
Czech sladce
- sladcein a sweet or pleasant manner
Esperanto dolĉe, aminde
- dolĉein a sweet or pleasant manner
- amindein a sweet or pleasant manner
Finnish makeasti
- makeastiin a sweet or pleasant manner
French doucement
- doucementin a sweet or pleasant manner
German süß
- süßin a sweet or pleasant manner
Hungarian édesen
- édesenin a sweet or pleasant manner
Italian dolcemente, carezzevolmente
- dolcementein a sweet or pleasant manner
- carezzevolmentein a sweet or pleasant manner
- soavementein a sweet or pleasant manner
Latin dulciter, suāviter
- dulciterin a sweet or pleasant manner
- suāviterin a sweet or pleasant manner
Latvian saldi
- saldiin a sweet or pleasant manner
Lithuanian mielai
- mielaiin a sweet or pleasant manner
Polish słodko
- słodkoin a sweet or pleasant manner
Portuguese docemente
- docementein a sweet or pleasant manner
Romanian dulce
- dulcein a sweet or pleasant manner
Russian сла́дко
- сла́дко (sládko)in a sweet or pleasant manner
Spanish dulcemente, abemoladamente
- dulcementein a sweet or pleasant manner
- abemoladamentein a sweet or pleasant manner
Swedish sött
- söttin a sweet or pleasant manner
Turkish tatlı tatlı
- tatlı tatlıin a sweet or pleasant manner
Ukrainian со́лодко
- со́лодко (sólodko)in a sweet or pleasant manner
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
sweetly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sweetly
“sweetly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sweetly. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sweetly,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sweetly.
Source: sweetly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.