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
His pizzazz was a large measure of his appeal, along with his manufactured image as a shrewd businessman with a kingly touch and infallible judgment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 4, 2026
Later they turn to kingly and materialistic protections against their wandering.
From Salon ● Mar. 31, 2024
Worn at every coronation since then, it symbolises kingly dignity.
From Reuters ● May 5, 2023
There were other grownies around, so he might have felt obligated to be kingly, to pat us on the head.
From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri
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 Alfred Noyes
Or is it the rage of stark Edward; the base Unkingly revenge on a kinglier race; The wrong idly wrought on the patriot dead; The dark castle of doom; the scorn-diadem’d head?
From The Visions of England Lyrics on leading men and events in English History by Henry Morley
He can be gentle as a bride, While none can rule with kinglier pride; Calm to hear, and wise to prove, Yet gay as lark in soaring love.
From Thomas Davis, Selections from his Prose and Poetry by T. W. (Thomas William) Rolleston
Why, he was great of thews—and wise, thou say'st: Yet seems my sire to me the fairer-faced - The kinglier and the kindlier.
From Locrine: a tragedy by Algernon Charles Swinburne
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 Aubrey De Vere
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
For Afghanistan, that is the kingliest accomplishment of all.
From Time Magazine Archive
"LAMBERT!" roared the troll in a voice that would have shamed the kingliest of lions.
From Abducted to Oz by Bob Evans
Louis XV. had always the kingliest abhorrence of Death.
From The French Revolution by Thomas Carlyle
Buds that shall bloom beside my hearth, And there be held of richer worth Than all the kingliest gems of earth.
From The Poems of Henry Timrod by Henry Timrod
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