Stately

adj, adv

adj, adv ·2 syllables ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Worthy of respect; dignified, regal.

    "Warwick's first glance had revealed the fact that the young woman was strikingly handsome, with a stately beauty seldom encountered."

  2. 2
    Deliberate, unhurried; dignified.

    "And much as they welcome his promise to repeal "don't ask, don't tell", they are dismayed by the stately pace and bungled tactics of his attempts to do so."

  3. 3
    Grand; impressive; imposing.

    "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure-dome decree: / Where Alph, the sacred river, ran / Through caverns measureless to man / Down to a sunless sea."

Adjective
  1. 1
    refined or imposing in manner or appearance; befitting a royal court wordnet
  2. 2
    impressive in size, manner, or appearance wordnet
  3. 3
    of size and dignity suggestive of a statue wordnet
Adverb
  1. 1
    In a stately manner.

Synonyms

All synonyms
courtlyimposingaristocraticaugustawe inspiringawe-inspiring

Example

More examples

"A government official's stately mansion was looted."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English staately, staatly, stateli, statelie, stately, statelyche, statelye, statli, statly. Compare stour. By surface analysis, state + -ly (adjectival suffix).

Etymology 2

From Middle English stately, statli, equivalent to state + -ly (adverbial suffix).

Related phrases

stately bush brownstately elmstately home

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