adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of godly
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English godlīc; God + -ly
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.
Melissa Gordon struggled to reconcile the godly woman she thought she knew with the details now emerging.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 24, 2026
His vanishing cultural presence also exposed another inconvenient fact—that he was hardly as godly as the memes made him out to be.
From Slate • Mar. 20, 2026
“Santa is looked at more like a godly figure, while the Grinch is a more everyday man,” the actor explained.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 25, 2025
"He was the most godly, humane, kind, gracious human being I think I've ever met," Alex Ryvchin of the Executive Council of Australia Jewry, told reporters at Bondi on Monday morning.
From BBC • Dec. 15, 2025
“Because we are godly people,” Frankie said quietly, leaning down to stare him in the face.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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.
