stately
Americanadjective
-
majestic; imposing in magnificence, elegance, etc..
a stately home.
adverb
adjective
adverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of stately
First recorded in 1350–1400, stately is from the Middle English word statly. See state, -ly
Explanation
To be stately is to appear noble and impressive, almost in a larger than life kind of way. You may encounter a stately gentleman or a stately statue. If you do, take a little bow. There are a few meanings of stately, but they both refer to people and things that have an impressive bearing. The first meaning has to do with nobility and class. A ceremony honoring a prince is stately, and the music and dress surrounding such events are stately. Stately things convey sophistication and regality. Also, stately can mean statuesque. Someone with great posture and an impressive physique is stately, almost as if they were made by a sculptor.
Vocabulary lists containing stately
"The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe
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An "August" Assortment: Words Worthy of Honor
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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.
See Examples For:
Steps lead down into the spacious living area, where some of the apartment’s most striking prewar features take center stage, including regal archways, a stately fireplace, and a row of arched leaded-glass windows.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
It has a twangy guitar, stately woodwinds and a loping groove that makes you feel like you’re nudging a herd of cattle through a mountain pass on a cloudless day.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
Jenner-Fust said it is a reminder that some of the most valuable objects are not tucked away in stately homes but hiding in plain sight, waiting to be rediscovered.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
She was sitting down in her stately Oaxaca home when we connected over Zoom, and smiled widely the moment I brought up my metaphysical query.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
But the bow with which he greeted Aravis as he took her hand would have been stately enough for an Emperor.
From "The Horse and His Boy" by C.S. Lewis
Frenzied Afro-Cuban dancing mixes with statelier Mexican danzón; one set piece is illuminated by a flashing neon sign, and another puts Mercedes and her sister in a museum, surrounded by pre-Columbian artifacts.
From New York Times ● Oct. 22, 2019
In a statelier time and series, Cyrus would have been played by Jeremy Irons, but here the honor goes to Jake Maskall, who does what he can.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 14, 2015
The statelier English verse occupies its space comfortably.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 30, 2012
He put them on the runway at the Jeu de Paume — a contemporary art museum and one of this city’s statelier locations for a fashion show.
From Washington Post
God, I know, will be good to that lonely little newcomer in His world of the statelier dead, in His gallery of whispering ghosts.
From The Prairie Child by Ward. E. F. (Edmund Franklin)
It supplanted some of the city’s stateliest mansions with corporate palaces in blue glass and bronze.
From New York Times ● Apr. 22, 2020
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, called the result “the stateliest measure ever moulded by the lips of man.”
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 8, 2018
Indian Village is an historic development just to the west of the neighborhood, and it includes some of the largest, stateliest residences in the city.
From BusinessWeek ● Sep. 2, 2014
“The monument is appalling—in bad taste and in a very strategic position,” on Mexico City's stateliest avenue, near statues of Gandhi and Winston Churchill.
From Slate ● Jan. 30, 2013
I. Jeannette, by man though rarely seen; Is a friend of Running Water, To the Mountain, fairest daughter, To the forest, stateliest queen.
From Voices; Birth-Marks; The Man and the Elephant by Mathew Joseph Holt
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