shapely en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /ˈʃeɪpli/ (General-American)
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
From Middle English schaply, schappely (“well-shaped, beautiful, attractive”), perhaps from Old English *ġesċeaplīċ (“according to design, proper, fit”) (suggested by Old English ġesċeaplīċe (“properly, fitting, well”)), equivalent to shape + -ly.
Meanings
-
Having a pleasing shape, pleasant to look at.
The more solicitous of the two was Nurse Cramer, a shapely, pretty, sexless girl with a wholesome unattractive face.
1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 171:It used to be, whenever Frank passed a rival butcher’s window (and later the curved glass of a supermarket meat counter), he would peer in unjealously, looking for the subtleties that spoke of talent with a knife. Were their fillets shapely?
2020 September 1, Tom Lamont, “The butcher's shop that lasted 300 years (give or take)”, in The Guardian:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| shapelier | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| shapeliest | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| most shapely | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more shapely | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |
Antonyms
Deriveds
shapeliness · shapelily · unshapely
Hypernyms
Hyponyms
statuelike · symmetric · symmetrical · sculpturesque
Synonyms
Translations (36)
pl zgrabny (having a pleasing shape) · hu jóalakú (having a pleasing shape) · it prosperoso (having a pleasing shape) · cmn 豐滿 /丰满 (having a pleasing shape) · enm schaply (having a pleasing shape) · es curvilíneo (having a pleasing shape) · fi sopusuhtainen (having a pleasing shape) · hi सुडौल (having a pleasing shape) · pt torneado (having a pleasing shape) · hy շեն (having a pleasing shape) · es exuberante (having a pleasing shape) · ga córach (having a pleasing shape) · ga cruthúil (having a pleasing shape) · cs úhledný (having a pleasing shape) · it tornito (having a pleasing shape) · ga fíortha (having a pleasing shape) · ga cruthach (having a pleasing shape) · pl kształtny (having a pleasing shape) · gd cumachdail (having a pleasing shape) · ga cumaí (having a pleasing shape) · bg строен (having a pleasing shape) · cmn 凹凸有致 (having a pleasing shape) · cs ladných tvarů (having a pleasing shape) · ar حَسَن (having a pleasing shape) · es torneado (having a pleasing shape) · ang hīewlīċ (having a pleasing shape) · it formoso (having a pleasing shape) · ga dea-chruthach (having a pleasing shape) · ga greanta (having a pleasing shape) · ga cumtha (having a pleasing shape) · fi hyvinmuodostunut (having a pleasing shape) · hu jóformájú (having a pleasing shape) · ga dea-chumtha (having a pleasing shape) · bg добре сложен (having a pleasing shape) · it polputo (having a pleasing shape) · ga dealfa (having a pleasing shape)