adjective
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generous or lavish
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of, belonging to, or characteristic of a prince
adverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of princely
Explanation
Something princely is controlled by or suits a prince, like a princely territory or a princely velvet cape. If a prince (a male royal, often the son of a king or queen) rules certain areas, they are princely territories. And if a prince wears certain clothes, you could say he sports a princely outfit. You can also use this adjective to mean "fancy" or "opulent," so you might describe the princely furnishings in your elegant hotel room or the princely offerings on the menu at a four-star restaurant.
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:
They had assiduously saved the cash that came in from gifts and summer jobs, and it had compounded over time to reach a princely sum.
From MarketWatch ● May 5, 2026
India no longer has royals and Awadh, once a princely state ruled by semi-autonomous Muslim nawabs, now exists only as a historical region in central Uttar Pradesh.
From BBC ● Mar. 28, 2026
He will then visit the princely palace, the official residence of the Grimaldi dynasty since the 13th century, for a private meeting with Prince Albert.
From Barron's ● Mar. 25, 2026
Some tried to keep it alive in the Indian princely state of Hyderabad.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026
“Ten thousand swords makes for a princely gift, I grant you. Her Grace should be most pleased.”
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Nay, if we compare Pope to some of the later writers who have wrung still princelier rewards from fortune, the result is not unfavourable.
From Hours in a Library, Volume I. (of III.) by Stephen, Leslie, Sir
Nearly all the houses had vegetable gardens, and some of them had flower-gardens that appeared princelier pleasaunces to my boy than he has ever seen since in Europe or America.
From A Boy's Town by Howells, William Dean
For one fleeting night a princelier nature captures us, and we become as great as our aspirations.
From The World I Live In by Keller, Helen
Beverly, boy!—on his white steed, I ween, A princelier presence has never been seen; And as yonder he lies, from the groups all apart, I bow to him loyally,—bow with my heart.
From Beechenbrook A Rhyme of the War by Preston, Margaret J.
But I am of a greater and princelier house than the Sons of the Cat.
From Salute to Adventurers by Buchan, John
Madam," said the professor, with his princeliest smile, "the true Art cannot fail.
From Strictly business: more stories of the four million by Henry, O.
Harkness, true to his boast, had found quite the straightest, princeliest balsam in the nearby woods.
From Red-Robin by Richards, Harriet Roosevelt
If Kemble was the ideal Coriolanus and Henry V., he was too kingly as Hamlet, and Booth is the princeliest Hamlet that ever trod the stage.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 17, No. 103, May, 1866 by Various
What are the princeliest of them beside the fiery halls of Tir-na-noge and the flame-built cities of the Gods?
From AE in the Irish Theosophist by Russell, George William
The shade of the princeliest hero dwelling there the 1 Georg. lib. i.
From The Destiny of the Soul A Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life by Alger, William Rounseville
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.
