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definitions

comely

[ kuhm-lee ]
/ ˈkʌm li /
||
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR comely ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, come·li·er, come·li·est.

pleasing in appearance; attractive; fair: a comely face.
proper; seemly; becoming: comely behavior.

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RELATED WORDS

good-looking, winsome, attractive, becoming, blooming, buxom, fair, fine, gorgeous, graceful, handsome, nice, pleasing, pretty, stunning, wholesome, beauteous, pulchritudinous

Nearby words

  1. comedown,
  2. comedy,
  3. comedy of errors,
  4. comedy of errors, the,
  5. comedy of manners,
  6. comenius,
  7. comenius, john amos,
  8. comer,
  9. comes,
  10. comestible

Origin of comely

before 1000; Middle English cumli, Old English cȳmlīc lovely, equivalent to cȳme exquisite (cognate with Middle High German kūme weak, tender, German kaum (adv.) with difficulty, Old High German kūmo) + -līc -ly
ANTONYMS FOR comely
1. unattractive.
SEE MORE ANTONYMS FOR comely ON THESAURUS.COM
Related formscome·li·ly, adverbcome·li·ness, nounun·come·ly, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for comely

British Dictionary definitions for comely

comely

/ (ˈkʌmlɪ) /

adjective -lier or -liest

good-looking; attractive
Derived Formscomeliness, noun

Word Origin for comely

Old English cӯmlīc beautiful; related to Old High German cūmi frail, Middle High German komlīche suitably
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for comely

comely

adj.

"beautiful, handsome," c.1400, probably from Old English cymlic "lovely, splendid, finely made," from cyme "exquisite, glorious, delicate," from West Germanic *kumi- "delicate, feeble" (cf. Old High German chumo "with difficulty," chumig "weak, delicate;" German kaum "hardly, scarcely"). Or perhaps the modern word is from Middle English bicumelic (c.1200) "suitable, exquisite," literally "becomely" (cf. becoming).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper