goodly
Americanadjective
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goodlier,
comparative
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goodliest
superlative
-
of good or substantial size, amount, etc..
a goodly sum.
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of good or fine appearance.
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Archaic. of a good quality.
a goodly gift.
adjective
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considerable
a goodly amount of money
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obsolete attractive, pleasing, or fine
a goodly man
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of goodly
before 1000; Middle English; Old English gōdlīc. See good, -ly
Explanation
A goodly amount of something is plenty of it. If you bake a goodly number of brownies for a bake sale, there are more than enough. The adjective goodly can describe a large quantity and also a large size: "You described your house as tiny, but it's actually a goodly size!" You might bring home a goodly amount of spinach from the farmer's market, or take a new job that comes with a goodly increase in salary. Goodly comes from an Old English root word, godlic, "excellent, good, or fair."
Vocabulary lists containing goodly
The Tempest
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Brian's Winter
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"Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad" by Ann Petry
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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:
If you don’t pay at least a goodly chunk of your 2023 taxes by then, you will be penalized automatically, even if you file for an extension by Monday night.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2024
"The last time we had goodly numbers... was round about 2017, so it's great to see them now."
From BBC ● Jan. 11, 2024
He was optimistic that the sprinklers would save “a goodly number of them” from extreme heat, he said.
From New York Times ● Apr. 4, 2023
I also disappeared for a goodly while into Stephen Amidon’s taut domestic thriller “Locust Lane,” which is just coming out this month.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 10, 2023
Moreover, she was a goodly maid, fair enough, but not too fair so as to be vain over it.
From "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck
I my lady, than eyes goodlier easily she?
From The Poems and Fragments of Catullus by Robinson Ellis
My affections are then most humble; I have no ambition to see a goodlier man.
From Dryden's Works Vol. 3 (of 18) Sir Martin Mar-All; The Tempest; An Evening's Love; Tyrannic Love by John Dryden
It was a fair picture, and no eye could rest on a goodlier couple than the tall lithe young man, and the noble maiden.
From Tales from Many Sources Vol. V by Various
Mayhap, moreover, his comely face had something to do with it, for, i' fecks, ne'er saw I a goodlier countenance on Roundhead or Cavalier.
From A Brother To Dragons and Other Old-time Tales by Amélie Rives
King Solomon walked a thousand times Forth of his garden-close; And saw there spring no goodlier thing, Be sure, than the same little rose.
From The Melody of Earth An Anthology of Garden and Nature Poems From Present-Day Poets by Various
Virginia “is wonderfull fertile and very rich,” he told the company, with “a goodly River called Patomack, upon the borders whereof there are grown the goodliest Trees.”
From Washington Post ● Oct. 26, 2017
From the outside Satan can see "higher than that wall a circling row / Of goodliest trees loaden with fairest fruit".
From The Guardian ● Jan. 29, 2011
Nature herein has mocked The cunning artist's skill, who, in a rim Of purest silver sets his goodliest stone, Making the metal richer for the gem.
From Joan of Arc A Play in Five Acts by Jane Alice Sargant
This day, dear love, I won my spurs; I was commended by great men for my valour; I thought myself the goodliest man of war in all broad England.
From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 8 (of 25) by Robert Louis Stevenson
"The goodliest land that eye ever saw, the sweetest thing in the world."
From Cuba Its Past, Present, and Future by Arthur D. Hall
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
