Dictionary

untearfully en · ADV

Etymology

From untearful + -ly.

Meanings

1. Not tearfully; without tears.
   • Perhaps we have no right to complain of the obliteration of these memorials of antiquity by the plough; the living are more than the dead, and in this case it may be said that we are only following the Artemisian example in consuming (in our daily bread) minute portions of the ashes of our old relations, albeit untearfully, with a cheerful countenance. 1910 November, W[illiam] H[enry] Hudson, A Shepherd's Life: Impressions of the South Wiltshire Downs, second edition, London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., pages 16–17:
   • These advertisements linger somewhere between pride and indignation—"I've only had three hours of sleep!" we cry, untearfully, as we stir coffees and the hearts of friends for comfort. 2012 August 28, Cherone Duggan, “Dropping Nothing: Expanding Time”, in Harvard Magazine, Cambridge, M.A.: Harvard Magazine Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 08 Feb 2023:

Forms