tonguely

tongue·ly
T1O1N1G2U1E1L1Y4
US, UK/ˈtʌŋli/US, UK/-ɡli/

adjective

Of or pertaining to the tongue; lingual.

Scrabble 12
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Meanings

tonguely1

adjectivetonguely (not comparable)
  1. informalnot comparablerareOf or pertaining to the tongue; lingual.

    However simple this basic recipe for tonguely delight seems, many men mess it up in gender-specific ways.

    1998, H. Lloyd Goodall, Food Talk: A Man’s Guide to Cooking and Conversation with Women, Greensboro, N.C.: Snowgoose Cove Pub., →ISBN, page 91
    4 more examples

    [A] meadow / in his own right, all inwardly afire, ten / thousand tonguely shadings painting him / angelic warden of the face of earth.

    1973, The Midwest Quarterly: A Journal of Contemporary Thought, volume XV, Pittsburgh, Kan.: Kansas State College of Pittsburg, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 374

    A quick dash back to the bed. A tonguely examination of her dental work. A frantic clutching between her legs.

    2003, Elizabeth George, “I, Richard”, in I, Richard, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 196

    "Lo-lee-ta." Our palatal journey, our physical introduction, our tonguely tour of her body in all its divisibility, takes us to her complete sundering: the phonemes have become, as indeed they ought to be as the true bearers of signification, whole in themselves.

    2005, Matthew Pateman, “Lolita—A Region in Flames”, in Nicole Bracker, Stefan Herbrechter, editors, Metaphors of Economy (Critical Studies; 25), Amsterdam; New York, N.Y.: Editions Rodopi, →ISBN, page 119

    Language must be further defined through language, more tonguely flexing, more mobilized spittle, more swirls of ink.

    2016, Esther Leslie, “Meltwater”, in Liquid Crystals: The Science and Art of a Fluid Form, London: Reaktion Books, →ISBN, page 189
  2. informalnot comparablerarePertaining or relating to languages; lingual, linguistic.

    Only the silence of the spirit in which Thou is addressed can liberate Thou, as [Martin] Buber says, out of the "pre-tonguely," pre-speech-formed It-world.

    [1974, Werner Manheim, “The Dialogical Principle”, in Martin Buber (Twayne’s World Authors Series, Germany; TWAS 269), New York, N.Y.: Twayne Publishers, →ISBN, page 31
    2 more examples

    Women are proverbial for tonguely gifts, and orators do not require very great depth. Like the belle with her chit-chat, it is the tone and manner which do execution.

    1847 May, Fanny Forester [pseudonym; Emily Chubbuck], “A Dream”, in George R[ex] Graham, editor, Graham’s American Monthly Magazine of Literature and Art, volume XXX, number 5, Philadelphia, Pa.: George R. Graham & Co. […], →OCLC, page 316, column 1

    His English was and is excellent, just like his French and Spanish. "Few men share this man's tonguely talent for languages!" auctioned Qaddafi [i.e., Muammar Gaddafi] in a speech of praise to your father when he was delegated Libya's official photo prize recently.

    2011, Jonas Hassen Khemiri, translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles, Montecore: The Silence of the Tiger (A Borzoi Book), 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →ISBN, part 2, footnote 9, page 79

tonguely2

adverbtonguely (not comparable)
  1. informalnonstandardnot comparablerareIn terms of or with the tongue; lingually.

    How can such a head not tempt him tonguely? And so he tastes it; […]

    2006, Shawn Postoff, “Sir Richard Wadd, Pornographer”, in Sky Gilbert, editor, Perfectly Abnormal: Seven Gay Plays, Toronto, Ont.: Playwrights Canada Press, →ISBN, page 132
    1 more example

    "How's it going Harold?", gravelled masculinely from a few tables away. "Yeah, not bad mate", as my rested pen raises brows that in turn tonguely prime lips for conversing.

    2011, Eddie Horton, Just Compass, Bloomington, Ind.: Balboa Press, Hay House, →ISBN, page 173

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
lingual

Origin

tonguely · adjective

From tongue + -ly (suffix forming adjectives from nouns, with the sense “appearing like or resembling [what is denoted by the noun]”).

Full word history & related roots →

tonguely · adverb

From tongue + -ly (suffix forming adverbs from adjectives and nouns).

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

younglet
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

“tonguely.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tonguely. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tonguely,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tonguely.

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