Shelley

American  

[shel-ee] / ˈʃɛl i /

noun

1. Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) 1797–1851, English author (wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley).

2. Percy Bysshe 1792–1822, English poet.

3. a male or female given name.

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Shelley British  

/ ˈʃɛlɪ /

noun

1. Mary ( Wollstonecraft ) (ˈwʊlstənˌkrɑːft). 1797–1851, British writer; author of Frankenstein (1818); the daughter of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, she eloped with Percy Bysshe Shelley

2. Percy Bysshe (bɪʃ). 1792–1822, British romantic poet. His works include Queen Mab (1813), Prometheus Unbound (1820), and The Triumph of Life (1824). He wrote an elegy on the death of Keats, Adonais (1821), and shorter lyrics, including the odes "To the West Wind" and "To a Skylark" (both 1820). He was drowned in the Ligurian Sea while sailing from Leghorn to La Spezia

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Example Sentences

An experienced mountaineer, Shelley was climbing with her boyfriend and business partner, Dave Ashley, and guides Tawa and Phurba Sonam Sherpa.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 1, 2026

Whatever the actual price, it wasn’t too high for Shelley Johannesen, a family friend who died on May 11 shortly after summiting Makalu, in Nepal, the world’s fifth-highest peak.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 1, 2026

A 53-year-old mother of three adult children, Shelley had discovered a new sense of purpose at an age when many people start checking the math on their retirement plans.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 1, 2026

Shelley Perkins, from Henleaze, Bristol, has spent more than £20,000 on cancer treatment for her five-year-old cocker spaniel Roxy in two years.

From BBC • May 4, 2026

We listened daily to Shelley Stewart, our favorite radio DJ.

From "While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age during the Civil Rights Movement" by Carolyn Maull McKinstry