Dictionary

holily en · ADV

Pronunciation

• /ˈhəʊlɪli/ (UK)

Etymology

From Middle English holily, holyly, holilie, holiliche, holyliche, haliliche, haliʒlike, haliliʒ, from Old English hāliġlīċe, equivalent to holy + -ly.

Meanings

1. In a holy way; with sanctity.
   • The other [problem] is that, like Macbeth, what the president wants highly he also wants holily. 2010 October 14, “An own goal on gay rights”, in The Economist:
   • And there are ſome diſpoſitions blame-vvorthy in men, vvhich are yet, in a right ſenſe, holily aſcribed unto God; as unchangeableneſs, and irrepentance: […] 1648, J[oseph] Hall, chapter XLVI, in Select Thoughts: Or, Choice Helps for a Pious Spirit. […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Brooke, […], published 1654, →OCLC, page 140:
   • […] enjoyning them upon the severest Penalties to live godlily, holily and righteously in this present World […] 1688, Henry Wharton, Sermon III preach'd at Lambeth Chapel:

Forms