goodly
Americanadjective
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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
- goodliness noun
- ungoodly adjective
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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"Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad" by Ann Petry
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Brian's Winter
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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.
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
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
“For what more august, more charming and useful, than the culture and preservation of such goodly plantations: That shade to our grand-children give,” the British forester John Evelyn wrote in the 1660s, quoting Virgil.
From New York Times • Jul. 13, 2022
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
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.
