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
Denethor looked indeed much more like a great wizard than Gandalf did, more kingly, beautiful, and powerful; and older.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
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
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.
As the spectator stands midway between the two busts, at some distance from both, Irving has the larger and the kinglier air, and the face of Astor seems small and set.
From Famous Americans of Recent Times by Parton, James
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
The enthroned Republic from her kinglier throne Spake, and her speech was Cromwell's.
From A Channel Passage and Other Poems Taken from The Collected Poetical Works of Algernon Charles Swinburne—Vol VI by Swinburne, Algernon Charles
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
Not lightly fall Beyond recall The written scrolls a breath can float: The crowning fact, The kingliest act Of freedom is the freeman's vote.
From The Galaxy, April, 1877 Vol. XXIII.—April, 1877.—No. 4. by Various
Read his "Eve of Election":— "Not lightly fall Beyond recall The written scrolls a breath can float; The crowning fact, The kingliest act Of Freedom is the freeman's vote!"
From John Greenleaf Whittier His Life, Genius, and Writings by Kennedy, W. Sloane
I tell you he is the kingliest king ever I had to deal with, and the chief I would soonest trust England to.
From The Ward of King Canute; a romance of the Danish conquest by Liljencrantz, Ottilie A. (Ottilia Adelina)
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.
