Southernly

adj, adv

adj, adv ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Southerly, somewhat southern.
Adverb
  1. 1
    Southward, southerly.

    "[…] the said river flowed in a southernly direction, and thence around said Dean's Island, and at or about the southwest end thereof the river turned […]"

  2. 2
    Alternative letter-case form of southernly (“in the manner of the South or of Southerners”). alt-of

    "The community is Southernly polite to newcomers. They'll engage a new face in conversation in the synagogue, which doesn't usually happen elsewhere."

  3. 3
    In a Southern manner, in a way typical of a Southerner or of the South (the southern United States).

    "“The good Lord seemed fond of sending us southerners many trials!” Christa murmured, […] “We were ever in sympathy with our more southernly sisters!”"

Example

More examples

"[…] the said river flowed in a southernly direction, and thence around said Dean's Island, and at or about the southwest end thereof the river turned […]"

Etymology

Etymology 1

From southern + -ly.

Etymology 2

From Southern + -ly.

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