comely
Americanadjective
-
pleasing in appearance; attractive; fair.
a comely face.
- Synonyms:
- personable, good-looking, beautiful, handsome, pretty
-
comely behavior.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of comely
First recorded before 1000; Middle English cumli, Old English cȳmlīc “lovely,” equivalent to cȳme “exquisite” (cognate with Middle High German kūme “weak, tender,” German kaum (adverb) “with difficulty,” Old High German kūmo ) + -līc -ly
Explanation
Comely means attractive or appropriate. A comely girl is pretty. A comely hairstyle is flattering. If your manners are comely, it means you know the right way to act to put people at their ease. Comely is related to the word becoming, in the sense of something's being attractive and appropriate––you're comely wearing that becoming blouse, the way she told the story was becoming to a comely young lady. Comely is the opposite of the similar-looking homely, which means plain-looking, almost ugly.
Vocabulary lists containing comely
"The Bet" by Anton Chekhov
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The Picture of Dorian Gray
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Much Ado About Nothing
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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.
As for the pictures, they’re shrouded in ominous shadows, but although the raven’s eyes burn like embers, the bird does nothing worse than cry “nevermore,” and Lenore, when she appears, looks downright comely.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 9, 2025
And it actually worked, thanks to its comely co-stars and a little help — OK, a lot of help — from TikTok.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 24, 2024
Was she too fancy to have her dental work performed by a comely rattlesnake in the Badlands, as is custom in South Dakota?
From Slate • Mar. 16, 2024
Described as "the most comely woman in the Seven Kingdoms," Hightower has both "courtly grace and a keen political acumen."
From Salon • Dec. 12, 2020
Among mountaineers and other connoisseurs of geologic form, Everest is not regarded as a particularly comely peak.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
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.
