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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

cheerly en · ADJ · etymology 1

Etymology

From cheer + -ly.

Meanings

  1. (archaic) Cheerful, gay; not gloomy.
    • Wel ſaid, thou look'ſt cheerely, / And Ile be with thee quickly: yet thou lieſt / In the bleake aire. c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vi], page 192, column 2:
    • The first thing that roused me from my meditations, was a cheerly voice that saluted me as I was approaching Tattersall's; round whose gates a detachment of tilburies, stanhopes, and led-horses were clustered." 1841, Mrs. Gore [i.e., Catherine Grace Frances], Cecil: Or, The Adventures of a Coxcomb: A Novel, volume I, page 100:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
cheerlier Degree=Cmp lexicographic
most cheerly Degree=Sup lexicographic
more cheerly Degree=Cmp lexicographic
cheerliest Degree=Sup lexicographic

cheerly en · ADV · etymology 2

Etymology

From Middle English cheerly, cherly, cherely, cheerliche, equivalent to cheer + -ly.

Meanings

  1. (archaic) Cheerily, cheerfully, heartily; briskly.
    • My louing Lord, I take my leaue of you, [...] Not ſicke, although I haue to do with death, / But luſtie, yong, and cheerely drawing breath. 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii], page 26, column 1:
    • Oft liſt'ning hovv the Hounds and horn, / Chearly rouſe the ſlumbring morn, […] a. 1645, John Milton, “L’Allegro”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, page 32:
    • What matters me who wears the crown of France? / Whether a Richard or a Charles possess it? / They reap the glory—they enjoy the spoil— / We pay—we bleed!—The sun would shine as cheerly, / The rains of heaven as seasonably fall, / Tho' neither of these royal pests existed. 1794, Robert Southey, Wat Tyler. A Dramatic Poem. In Three Acts, London: J[ohn] M‘Creery, […] for Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, […], published 1817, →OCLC, Act I, page 6:
    • He cheerly passes, quaffs the social glass, Propines the winds, or toasts some blooming lass. 1818, Archibald Johnston, The Mariner: A Poem in Two Cantos, page 15:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
more cheerly Degree=Cmp lexicographic
most cheerly Degree=Sup lexicographic
cheerlier Degree=Cmp lexicographic
cheerliest Degree=Sup lexicographic

Synonyms

mirthfully · chearfully · gaily · eupeptically · bubblingly · joyously · blessedly · cheerily · gaily · eudaemonically · gayly · cheerly · genially · happily · lightheartedly · merrily · mirthfully · cheerfully · joyfully · gladly