Homely
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: /ˈhəʊm.li/
- US enPR: hÅmʹlÄ“, IPA: /ˈhoÊŠm.li/
- Hyphenation: home + ly
Alternative forms
- hamely Scotland
Origin
From Middle English homly, hoomly, hamely ("domestic, familiar, plain"), from Old English *hÄmlÄ«c ("of the home, domestic"), from Proto-Germanic *haimalÄ«kaz ("of or characteristic of home"), equivalent to home + -ly. Cognate with Scots hamely ("familiar, personal, private"), West Frisian heimelik, Dutch heimelijk ("secret, secretive, clandestine"), German heimlich ("secret, secretive, clandestine, undercover"), Danish hemmelig ("secret"), Swedish hemlig ("secret, concealed, privy, covert"), Faroese heimligur ("homelike, homey"), Icelandic heimlegur ("homely; worldly").
Full definition of homely
Adjective
homely
- (dated) Lacking in beauty or elegance, plain in appearance, physically unattractive.
- Robert SouthThere is none so homely but loves a looking-glass.
- 1958, Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita, Chapter 15You see, she sees herself as a starlet; I see her as a sturdy, healthy but decidedly homely kid.
- (archaic) Characteristic of or belonging to home; domestic. from early 14th c.
- (UK dialectal) On intimate or friendly terms with (someone); familiar; at home (with a person); intimate.
- 1563, John Foxe, , Chapter on William ThorpeWith all these men I was right homely, and communed with them long and oft.
- (UK dialectal, of animals) Domestic; tame.
- (UK dialectal) Personal; private.
- (UK dialectal) Friendly; kind; gracious; cordial.
- (archaic) Simple; plain; familiar; unelaborate; unadorned. from late 14th c.a homely garment; homely fare; homely manners
- 1731, Alexander Pope, Strephon and Chloe, Lines 211-212Now Strephon daily entertains
His Chloe in the homeliest strains. - 2001, Sydney I. Landau, Dictionaries: The Art and Craft of Lexicography, Cambridge University Press (ISBN 0-521-78512-X), page 167,There is no simple way to define precisely a complex arrangement of parts, however homely the object may appear to be.