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:
By reducing the value-added tax rate to zero from 5%, Mr. Burnham says he’ll save the average household the princely sum of $60 a year starting in October.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Two years later, he provided invaluable career advice to Bruce Springsteen, who had recently signed to Columbia for the princely sum of $25,000.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
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
Once part of the erstwhile princely state of Mysore, it was known as "garden city" or a "pensioner's paradise".
From Barron's ● Nov. 27, 2025
"Nitwits!" exclaimed Jemmy, as if his own princely patience were at an end.
From "The Whipping Boy" by Sid Fleischman
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
But I am of a greater and princelier house than the Sons of the Cat.
From Salute to Adventurers by Buchan, John
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
No house in Venice had held this right for more generations; no house was princelier in its bearing, nor more superbly republican!
From A Golden Book of Venice by Turnbull, Lawrence, Mrs.
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.
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
He was at his princeliest estate—never would he be handsomer.
From Rose of Dutcher's Coolly by Garland, Hamlin
Yes; by your pleasure, Poetry is Thought, in princeliest attire, Treading a measure.
From A Book of Epigrams by Various
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.
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
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.
