Civilly

//ˈsɪv.əl.i// adv

adv ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adverb
  1. 1
    In a civil manner; politely.

    "‘I beg your pardon, Dr. Lanyon,’ he replied civilly enough. ‘What you say is very well founded; and my impatience has shown its heels to my politeness.[…]’"

  2. 2
    In a manner befitting a citizen. obsolete

    "WHERE before this Time the ancient Cities, Boroughs, Towns Corporate and Market-Towns within this Realm of England have been very populous, and chiefly inhabited with Merchants, Artificers and Handicraftſmen, during which Time the Children in the ſaid Cities, Boroughs, Towns Corporate and Market-Towns, were civilly brought up and inſtructed, and alſo the ſaid Cities, Boroughs and Towns Corporate, kept in good Order and Obeiſance, and the Inhabiters of the ſame well ſet on work, and kept from Idleneſs; […]"

Adverb
  1. 1
    in a civil manner wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
gracefullygraciouslymannerlypolitely

Example

More examples

"I understand you're upset, but you need to calm down so we can discuss this civilly."

Etymology

From Middle English cyvyly, equivalent to civil + -ly.

Related phrases

civilly deadcivilly disobedient

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.