sweetly

English

Etymology

From Middle English swetly, swetely, sweteliche, from Old English swētlīċe (“sweetly; pleasantly”), equivalent to sweet +‎ -ly. Cognate with Old High German swuozlīhho (“sweetly”), Icelandic sætlega (“sweetly; with gratitude”), German süßlich (“sweetish; sugary”), Dutch zoetelijk (“sentimental”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈswiːtli/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: sweet‧ly

Adverb

sweetly (comparative sweetlier or more sweetly, superlative sweetliest or most sweetly)

1. With a sweet taste or aroma.
2. In a sweet or pleasant manner.
   • 1958, Anthony Burgess, The Enemy in the Blanket (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 232:

     "No, Auntie," said Hardman, sweetly, seriously.

3. Nicely; finely; excellently.
   • 2000, Bob Foster, Birdum or Bust!, Henley Beach, SA: Seaview Press, page 21:

     Sitting in the seat with the engine off before that day, the gears slid in so sweetly, and double de-clutching was so easy, I had done it a million times.

Translations

in a sweet or pleasant manner

• Armenian: քաղցր (hy) (kʻaġcʻr)
• Belarusian: со́ладка (sóladka)
• Catalan: dolçament (ca)
• Czech: sladce
• Esperanto: dolĉe, aminde
• Finnish: makeasti (fi)
• French: doucement (fr)
• Georgian: ტკბილად (ṭḳbilad)
• German: süß (de)
• Hungarian: édesen (hu)
• Italian: dolcemente (it), carezzevolmente (it), soavemente
• Latin: dulciter, suāviter
• Latvian: saldi
• Lithuanian: mielai
• Middle English: swoote
• Norman: douochement
• Old English: swōte
• Polish: słodko (pl)
• Portuguese: docemente
• Romanian: dulce (ro)
• Russian: сла́дко (ru) (sládko)
• Spanish: dulcemente, abemoladamente (es)
• Swedish: sött (sv)
• Turkish: tatlı tatlı (tr)
• Ukrainian: со́лодко (sólodko)

Anagrams

• Westley