What does "sidely" mean?

Of or relating to the side (of something); lateral.

What is a synonym for "sidely"?

Common synonyms include: sideways.

adj, adv

adj, adv ·Rare ·Advanced level

Adjective

1
Of or relating to the side (of something); lateral. nonstandard, rare
"“[…] The evidence of that philosophy is found in its perennial focus on a 'this-sidely' world and an 'other-sidely' world.”"

Adverb

1
To the side; sideways; laterally; sideling; obliquely; indirectly. nonstandard, not-comparable, rare
"[…] satisfying her homosexuality with the keeping of a secret scrapbook of pictures of favorite male actors or athletes or by supervising the activities of young boys or visiting turkish^([sic]) baths or mens^([sic]) locker rooms, leering sidely while seeking protection behind a carefully guarded guise of virility […]"

"“[…] The evidence of that philosophy is found in its perennial focus on a 'this-sidely' world and an 'other-sidely' world.”"

From Middle English *sideli (adjective), sideli (adverb), equivalent to side + -ly. Cognate with German seitlich (“lateral”). Compare also sideling.

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