kingly
Americanadjective
adverb
adjective
-
appropriate to a king; majestic
-
royal
adverb
Synonym Usage
Kingly, regal, royal refer to that which is closely associated with a king, or is suitable for one. What is kingly may either belong to a king, or be befitting, worthy of, or like a king: a kingly presence, appearance, graciousness. Regal is especially applied to the office of kingship or the outward manifestations of grandeur and majesty: regal authority, bearing, splendor, munificence. Royal is applied especially to what pertains to or is associated with the person of a monarch: the royal family, word, robes, salute; a royal residence.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of kingly
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at king, -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.
See Examples For:
A purchase is theoretically possible and has historic precedents—although expanding one’s territory with gold or other payments has become rarer in modern times as nation states replaced empires and kingly realms.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 7, 2026
Later they turn to kingly and materialistic protections against their wandering.
From Salon ● Mar. 31, 2024
Robert Brustein, who died last month at the age of 96, was every inch a kingly critic.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 8, 2023
Worn at every coronation since then, it symbolises kingly dignity.
From Reuters ● May 5, 2023
“Your kingly bearing, your imperious gaze. Your royal regard!”
From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz
Then he waved his hand With a kinglier watch-word, "We are as near To heaven, my lads, by sea as by land!"
From Collected Poems Volume Two by Noyes, Alfred
But they fail not, the kinglier breed, Who starry diadems attain; To dungeon, axe, and stake succeed Heirs of the old heroic strain.
From Poems of James Russell Lowell With biographical sketch by Nathan Haskell Dole by Lowell, James Russell
And deeper joy, serener faith, Spring forth the golden crowns to grasp, While death, the monarch, gently lay’th Upon their brows a kinglier clasp.
From The Poets and Poetry of Cecil County, Maryland by Various
Had he sentHis hundred thousand kernes to yonder steepAnd rolled its boulders down, and built a moleTo fence my laden ships from spring-tide surge,Far kinglier pattern had he shown, and givenMore solace to the land.”
From The Legends of Saint Patrick by De Vere, Aubrey
Doubtless, they were men cast in a kinglier mould than most men; but their secret was not in themselves.
From When the Holy Ghost is Come by Brengle, Col. S. L.
For Afghanistan, that is the kingliest accomplishment of all.
From Time Magazine Archive
In soliloquy and song, in bantering bawdry and scalp-tingling rhetoric, in the kingliest English and in tender or rough translation, they speak to man from mankind's heart.
From Time Magazine Archive
It was nectar when we came to taste it It was of the kingliest, the most imperial.'
From Despair's Last Journey by Murray, David Christie
Louis XV. had always the kingliest abhorrence of Death.
From The French Revolution by Carlyle, Thomas
Below at his right stood Rameses, the kingliest presence that ever graced a royal sitting.
From The Yoke A Romance of the Days when the Lord Redeemed the Children of Israel from the Bondage of Egypt by Miller, Elizabeth
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.
