queenly en · ADJ · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- /ˈkwiːnli/
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
From Middle English queenly, quenly, from Old English cwēnlīċ, equivalent to queen + -ly.
Meanings
-
Having the status, rank or qualities of a queen; regal.
So Maggie, glad of anything that would soothe her mother, and cheer their long day together, consented to the vain decoration, and showed a queenly head above her old frocks, steadily refusing, however, to look at herself in the glass.
1860, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], The Mill on the Floss […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC:There was an innate refinement, a languid queenly hauteur about Gerty which was unmistakably evidenced in her delicate hands and higharched instep.
1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 13]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC:I'm so sorry. If I'd done my queenly duties right, none of this would have happened. But maybe I can fix it with some wish help.
2018, Queen True, “A Royal Stink”, in True and the Rainbow Kingdom:
-
Resembling a queen (a typically feminine gay man); queenish.
The Pet Shop Boys are yet another synth-pop duo, albeit one that is not quite out of the closet. […] In past interviews, however, they [the Pet Shop Boys] have referred to their sound as "specifically gay disco," and their lyrics have that certain queenly something that lead singer Neil Tennant sings with an adorable sibilance.
1990 December 23, Christopher Wittke, “Pop Goes 1990”, in Gay Community News, volume 18, number 23, page 9:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| queenliest | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| queenlier | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |