dreadly en · ADJ · etymology 1
Etymology
From Middle English dredli, dredlich, dredlyche, dredeliche, equivalent to dread + -ly.
Meanings
-
(obsolete) dreadful
The Normans made another dreadly appearance in 869, and as they were pagans they had no compunction about attacking, plundering and setting fire to the abbey of Saint-Germain-de-Prés.
2006, Jean-Denis G. G. Lepage, chapter 6, in The Fortifications of Paris, McFarland, page 25:dreadly spectacle
1590, Edmund Spenser, “(please specify the book)”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:Some practices are considered as essential for the attainment of an enlightened life but are looked upon as dreadly or extremely secret.
1992, Kāmarūpa Anusandhān Samiti, The Journal of the Assam Research Society, page 12:1770, Oliver Goldsmith, The Deserted Village, in The Poetical Works of Dr. Goldsmith, London: J. Osborne & T. Griffin, 1785, p. 44, https://books.google.ca/books?id=aA0UAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false […] To distant climes, a dreadly scene, / Where half the convex world intrudes between, / To torrid tracts with fainting steps they go, / Where wild Altama murmurs to their woe.
1652, Anonymous, "Christs Kingdome" in Eliza's Babes, Or, The Virgin's Offering, critical edition by L. E. Semler, Associated University Press, 2001, p. 73, lines 16-20, https://books.google.ca/books?id=C2_I9s7b3NwC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false At thy approach, black shades did vanish, / And from my heart thou feare didst banish, / And in their room did light appear, / And joy instead of dreadly feare.
Lo! 'mid the dreadly solitude a pilgrim form I see / Swift gliding towards me—
1860, W. Charles Kent, “Infinitude (from Schiller)”, in The New Monthly Magazine, volume 119, London: Chapman & Hall, page 88:'The teeth of the dreadly viper is still sticking into me!' he yelled.
1982, Roald Dahl, The BFG, Penguin UK, published 2007:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most dreadly | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more dreadly | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |