Ruly
adj, adv ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Pitiable; miserable. obsolete
- 2 Neat and orderly. rare
"What is certain is that everything they see is strange: the lifeless neatness of the courtyard, the straightness of the paths, the ruly gang of labourers in their dull uniforms and with their ageless, polished faces."
- 1 neat and tidy wordnet
- 1 Pitiably; miserably. obsolete
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"What is certain is that everything they see is strange: the lifeless neatness of the courtyard, the straightness of the paths, the ruly gang of labourers in their dull uniforms and with their ageless, polished faces."
Etymology
From Middle English rewly, ruly, rewely, reweliche, from Old English hrēowlīċ (“grievous, pitiful, sad, wretched, cruel”), equivalent to rue + -ly.
From Middle English rewly, reoly, reowliche, from Old English hrēowlīċe (“cruelly”), equivalent to rue + -ly.
Back-formation from unruly, or perhaps a continuation of Middle English rewly, ruly, reuli (“subject to a religious rule, regular”), equivalent to rule + -ly, rule + -y; or perhaps from Old French rulé, reulé, rieulé (“ruled”), past participle of rieuler (“to rule”). More at rule.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.