Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
lawyerly en · ADJ · etymology 1
Etymology
Etymology tree
English lawyer
Proto-Indo-European *leyg-der.
Proto-Germanic *līkąder.
Proto-Germanic *-līkaz
Proto-West Germanic *-līk
Old English -līċ
Middle English -ly
English -ly
English lawyerly
From lawyer + -ly (adjectival suffix).
Meanings
-
Characteristic of, or suitable to, a lawyer.
She rewrote the letter to make it sound more lawyerly.
Norton had made a neat, lawyerly check beside each of the items he and Billy had picked up—half a dozen or so, including the milk and a six-pack of Coke.
1980, Stephen King, The Mist, Viking Press:
Forms
Deriveds
unlawyerly · lawyerliness
lawyerly en · ADV · etymology 2
Etymology
From lawyer + -ly (adverbial suffix), after the adjective.
Meanings
-
(rare) In the manner of a lawyer.
“That’s my name,” she said. “Could be another Blanche Smith,” she said, lawyerly.
2010, David Champion, chapter 34, in Bomber Bombs: The Ninth Bomber Hanson Mystery, Santa Barbara, Calif.: Allen A. Knoll, Publishers, →ISBN, page 220:> And, in fact, there are legal limits to this alleged "right" of
> possession as well, ones that have been upheld by the courts.
Truly lawyerly said. Strange how the courts can uphold laws as "consitutional" that clearly contravene Constitutional clauses or ammendments.^([sic]) Judicial "activism" for you.
1999 May 6, Niles K. (Nik) Mouser, “Danger with guns”, in alt.politics.libertarian (Usenet), archived from the original on 03 Nov 2025:“I’m not really even sure, I mean I don’t know. We'll figure it out, okay?” This statement melded into a question delivered half at Cameron and half at Cameron’s lawyer. Everett, very lawyerly, said nothing. Cameron, however, shook his head vigorously.
2008 November 1, William Pepper, “December 26”, in In the St. Nick of Time, [United States]: Carnival of Glee Creations, →ISBN, page 326:“I’m instructing you and my client to avoid all interrogation. Roosevelt is on strong narcotics for pain and could answer irrationally. I don’t want him held accountable for something he may say while under the adverse effects of narcotics.’[’] I said lawyerly.
2012, daniel storm, chapter 14, in Not Afraid to Kill-Not Afraid to Die, Elm Grove, Wis.: William J. Pulkinen & Associates, →ISBN:
Forms