adjective
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generous or lavish
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of, belonging to, or characteristic of a prince
adverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of princely
Explanation
Something princely is controlled by or suits a prince, like a princely territory or a princely velvet cape. If a prince (a male royal, often the son of a king or queen) rules certain areas, they are princely territories. And if a prince wears certain clothes, you could say he sports a princely outfit. You can also use this adjective to mean "fancy" or "opulent," so you might describe the princely furnishings in your elegant hotel room or the princely offerings on the menu at a four-star restaurant.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
No arguments there; but there are certainly a few to be had with Mr. Dalrymple’s fourth so-called partition, that of Princely India—the nominally independent protectorates that constituted almost a third of the Indian empire.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026
Mississippi also had a busy weekend in the transfer portal, adding former Florida defensive end Princely Umanmielen and two former Tennessee players, defensive end Tyler Baron and defensive back Tamarion McDonald.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 17, 2023
Loans have come from the Louvre, the Prado, the Uffizi, the Princely Collections of the Liechtenstein in Vienna, the British Museum and elsewhere.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 6, 2021
"During this temporary period of rest the Princely Couple kindly requests that their privacy and family environment are well respected," the statement shared.
From Fox News • Nov. 19, 2021
This caused us so much pain, that we were led to speak somewhat severely to his Princely Highness, and said, 'No honest Prince would thus calumniate me.'
From Pictures of German Life in the XVth XVIth and XVIIth Centuries, Vol. II. by Freytag, Gustav
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
