stately

English

Etymology

From state +‎ -ly. Compare stour.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsteɪtli/

Adjective

stately (comparative statelier, superlative stateliest)

1. Of people: worthy of respect; dignified, regal.
   • 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars, Chapter I,

     Warwick's first glance had revealed the fact that the young woman was strikingly handsome, with a stately beauty seldom encountered.

2. Of movement: deliberate, unhurried; dignified.
   • 2010 October 14, “An Own Goal on Gay Rights”, in The Economist:

     And much as they welcome his promise to repeal "don't ask, don't tell", they are dismayed by the stately pace and bungled tactics of his attempts to do so.

3. Grand, impressive, imposing.
   • 1797, S[amuel] T[aylor] Coleridge, “Kubla Khan: Or A Vision in a Dream”, in Christabel: Kubla Khan, a Vision: The Pains of Sleep, London: Printed for John Murray, […], by William Bulmer and Co. […], published 1816, OCLC 1380031, page 55:

     In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure-dome decree: / Where Alph, the sacred river, ran / Through caverns measureless to man / Down to a sunless sea.

   • 1986, John le Carré [pseudonym; David John Moore Cornwell], A Perfect Spy:

     Flora is a good scout, a favourite with the jockeys on account of her stately breasts and the generous use she puts them to.

Derived terms

• stately home

Translations

worthy of respect

• Danish: anselig, prægtig, statelig
• Dutch: statig (nl)
• Finnish: arvokas (fi), kunnianarvoisa

• German: stattlich (de)
• Irish: státúil
• Spanish: majestuoso (es)

Adverb

stately (comparative more stately, superlative most stately)

1. In a stately manner.

Anagrams

• Sattley, stylate