comely

American  

[kuhm-lee] / ˈkʌm li /

adjective

comelier, comeliest

1. pleasing in appearance; attractive; fair.

   a comely face.

   Synonyms:

   personable, good-looking, beautiful, handsome, pretty

2. proper; seemly; becoming.

   comely behavior.

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comely British  

/ ˈkʌmlɪ /

adjective

1. good-looking; attractive

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Other Word Forms

• comeliness
  noun
• uncomely
  adjective
• comelily
  adverb

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

comely comelier comeliest

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

The bit was funny enough, but I was aware while watching it that it wouldn't have worked at all if Colbert had been putting a comely actress through the paces.

From Salon ● Mar. 30, 2023

Meanwhile guests were arriving at the great lord’s house, bringing their sheep, and wine, the ease of men, with loaves their comely kerchiefed women sent, to make a feast in hall.

From "The Odyssey" by Homer

It was like a Louis C. K. bit in a much comelier frame.

From New York Times ● Nov. 9, 2012

Colby dreamed of moving to a comelier, 650-acre site on Mayflower Hill, outside Waterville.

From Time Magazine Archive

“That’s like her. Well, you look it,” and Jo’s eye plainly betrayed that she found her boy comelier than ever.

From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

The unnamed peaks towering over the glacier were bigger and comelier and infinitely more menacing than they would have been were I in the company of another person.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer

And his face, which was smooth-shaven, was comelier than that of any of the sons of men.

From The High Deeds of Finn and other Bardic Romances of Ancient Ireland by Reid, Stephen

The phantom that haunts the eccentric Japanese rock opera “Inu-oh” is not the comeliest of creatures — not at first, anyway.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2022

And the chorus whom these trappings adorn are the comeliest that have stretched the necks of metropolitan audiences this year.

From Time Magazine Archive

In Die Meistersinger last week the Eva was one of the comeliest young women who has ever made an operatic debut.

From Time Magazine Archive

Of the daughters of Dwight Whitney Morrow, Constance, 16, is the comeliest; Anne, 24, the most famed; Elisabeth, 27, the liveliest.

From Time Magazine Archive

Let the bridegroom diligently con over his circle of friends, and select the comeliest and the pleasantest fellows for his own train.

From Routledge's Manual of Etiquette by Routledge, George

Related Words

• good-looking
• winsome