Dictionary

spinsterly en · ADJ

Etymology

From spinster + -ly.

Meanings

1. of or relating to a spinster or spinsterhood
   • By now most theater audiences can sing along with the post-Vietnam GI blues, but Steve Metcalfe's 1982 tale of a veteran and his sister and the war comrade who rescues them has lost none of its compassion, either for the men unwilling to confront choices they made in the heat of battle or for the tarnished knight and spinsterly lady who find themselves drawn to each other. 1998 February 20, Mary Shen Barnidge, “Strange Snow”, in Chicago Reader:
   • On the day the book begins, Che’s sheltered life of doormen, museum visits, country house retreats and spinsterly games of ludo comes to an end. 2008 February 10, Liesl Schillinger, “Child of the Revolution”, in New York Times:
   • We had seen Tish's apartment change from a sedate and spinsterly retreat to a riot of lace covers on the mantel, on the backs of chairs, on the stands, on the pillows--everywhere. 1916, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Tish, The Chronicle of Her Escapades and Excursions:

Forms