adultlyadv.
/ˈadʌltli/, /əˈdʌltli/, U.S. /əˈdəltli/ In early use: †as an adult (obsolete). Now: like an adult; in the manner of an adult.
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the world > people > person > adult > [adverb]
out of one's shell1551
maturely1630
adultly?1742
?1742 C. Fleming App. to Plea for Infants 30 How to reconcile receiving none but adultly-baptised persons as visible members, and yet joining with Poedo-baptists as visible members!
1896 J. Douglas Sterrett Power of Thought 308 Here we..regard everything with an interest more adultly personal and responsible.
1957 New Yorker 19 Jan. 24/3 Two small, adultly dressed boys studiously proceeding from work to work.
1969 R. Wollheim Family Romance 177 If only I could think like my father, adultly.
1973 M. Amis Rachel Papers 32 Rachel arrived in a group of four—what looked like a random car-load—but stayed alone by the door, arms folded adultly.
2003 K. Brichoux Coffee & Kung Fu viii. 87 I reached up, grabbed her cheek..and said—quite clearly and adultly—‘No, baby-kins isn't hungry.’
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2011; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adv.?1742