Farlie

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An unusual or unexpected thing; a wonder. UK, obsolete

    "(Whilst thus himselfe to please, the mightie Mountaine tells Such farlies of his Cluyd, and of his wondrous Wells)"

Example

More examples

"(Whilst thus himselfe to please, the mightie Mountaine tells Such farlies of his Cluyd, and of his wondrous Wells)"

Etymology

From Middle English farli, ferly, ferlich, feorlich (“a wonderful thing, a marvel, a wonder”), from Middle English farli, ferly, verlich, ferlik, ferlic, feorlic (“terrible, marvellous, wonderful”), from Old English fǣrlīċ (“sudden, unexpected, quick, horrible”), equivalent to fear + -ly. Cognate with Scots ferlie (“farlie”), Old Norse ferlíki, ferlíkan (“a monster, abnormality, monstrosity”), Old Norse ferligr (“monstrous”).

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