homely

English

Alternative forms

• hamely (Scotland)

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English homly, hoomly, hamely (“domestic, familiar, plain”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old English *hāmlīc (“of the home, domestic”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Germanic *haimalīkaz (“of or characteristic of home”), equivalent to home +‎ -ly. Cognate with Scots hamely (“familiar, personal, private”), West Frisian heimelik, Dutch heimelijk (“secret, secretive, clandestine”), German heimlich (“secret, secretive, clandestine, undercover”), Danish hemmelig (“secret”), Swedish hemlig (“secret, concealed, privy, covert”), Faroese heimligur (“homelike, homey”), Icelandic heimlegur (“homely; worldly”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhəʊmli/
• enPR: hōmʹlē, IPA^(key): /ˈhoʊmli/
• Rhymes: -əʊmli
• Hyphenation: home‧ly

Adjective

homely (comparative homelier or more homely, superlative homeliest or most homely)

1. (Canada, US) Lacking in beauty or elegance, plain in appearance, physically unattractive.
   • Robert South

     There is none so homely but loves a looking-glass.

   • 1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 6:

     "I can't send a young, pretty girl, or for that matter even a homely one if you'd have her, on a job like this without telling her what to expect."

   • 1958, Vladimir Nabokov, chapter 15, in Lolita:

     You see, she sees herself as a starlet; I see her as a sturdy, healthy but decidedly homely kid.

   Antonym: comely

2. (archaic) Characteristic of or belonging to home; domestic. [from early 14th c.]
   • 5 January 2014 "Mowgli's Cub" (Jungle Book episode)

     Mowgli: "Oh, don't worry Chota, it may not be homely, but I can warm it up."

3. (UK dialectal) On intimate or friendly terms with (someone); familiar; at home (with a person); intimate.
   • 1563, John Foxe, Foxe's Book of Martyrs, Chapter on William Thorpe

     With all these men I was right homely, and communed with them long and oft.

4. (UK dialectal, of animals) Domestic; tame.
5. (UK dialectal) Personal; private.
6. (UK dialectal) Friendly; kind; gracious; cordial.
7. (India) Conservative and family-oriented.

   I am seeking a beautiful homely girl for marriage.

8. (archaic) Simple; plain; familiar; unelaborate; unadorned. [from late 14th c.]

   a homely garment

   homely fare

   homely manners

   • 1731, Alexander Pope, Strephon and Chloe, Lines 211-212

     Now Strephon daily entertains / His Chloe in the homeliest strains.

   • 2001, Sydney I. Landau, Dictionaries: The Art and Craft of Lexicography, Cambridge University Press →ISBN, page 167,

     There is no simple way to define precisely a complex arrangement of parts, however homely the object may appear to be.

Derived terms

• homely as a hedge fence

Translations

physically unattractive

• Latin: invenustus
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

characteristic of or belonging to home

• Bulgarian: домашен (bg) (domašen), уютен (bg) (ujuten)
• German: heimisch (de)
• Polish: swojski (pl) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: hogareño
• Welsh: cartrefol (cy)

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Middle English

Adverb

homely

1. Alternative form of homly

Adjective

homely

1. Alternative form of homly