airilyadv.
/ˈɛːrᵻli/, U.S. /ˈɛrəli/ 1. † b. Happily, gaily. Obsolete. rare.
a. With a nonchalant, detached, or superior air; dismissively; casually, blithely.Sometimes implying affectedness or ostentation, with influence from air n.1 17. Cf. airy adj. 7a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pride > ostentation > [adverb] > dashingly
ruttinglya1529
galanta gaye1558
airily1687
dashingly1837
1687 W. Domvile tr. B. Le Bovier de Fontanelle Disc. Plurality of Worlds i. 18 By and by you'l see some English men pass this way debating some point of Policy, but not so airily [Fr. avec moins de gayeté] as we do our Philosophy.
1700 T. Taylor tr. N. Malebranche Treat. conc. Search after Truth (ed. 2) i. xvi. 39 Which Consequences we have brought in Our Philosopher, somewhat too frankly and airily [Fr. avec un peu trop de liberté] concluding; for generally others say the same things, in a more serious strain than he hath done here.
1766 T. Chalkley Wks. (ed. 4) 264 A young Baronet..who at first behaved airily.
1856 D. M. Mulock John Halifax III. ix. 244 She rose to her feet, smiling airily.
1859 C. Dickens Tale of Two Cities ii. xvi. 121 ‘It is all the same,’ said the spy, airily, but discomfited too; ‘good day!’
1871 Mrs. H. Wood Dene Hollow I. v. 124 ‘Oh, ay; servant at Farmer Owen's, I believe,’ remarked Sir Dene airily: for indeed the episode..had well-nigh passed from his mind.
1895 Westm. Gaz. 23 Feb. 2/1 It is..cheering, to discuss airily for the nonce, links which are two thousand pounders, and single pearl pins worth £1,200 each.
1933 E. A. Powell Slanting Lines of Steel iii. 28 It was not enough to say airily to a suspicious intelligence officer: ‘I represent the New York World and what I write today will be read tomorrow morning by millions of Americans.’
1961 E. Waugh Unconditional Surrender (1964) ii. v. 109 ‘It was merely a hypothesis,’ de Souza conceded airily.
1991 H. Gold Best Nightmare on Earth iv. 55 His judgment of the class from which he came, that airily Francophile little group of dandies and dandettes, went beyond disappointment to contempt.
2006 A. Goodman Intuition i. i. 4 Natalya glared at Aidan..but Aidan turned airily away.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > hope > [adverb] > expressing hope
airily1832
radiantly1877
1832 Ld. Tennyson Poems (new ed.) 102 Singing airily, Standing about the charmèd root.
1835 D. George Mod. Dunciad 106 The time has been, when many a rural lay I tried, as life pass'd airily away; But grief and care..Have cast o'er all a melancholy shade.
2. So as to be exposed to the air; thinly, lightly (esp. of manner of dress).
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > wearing clothing > [adverb] > in specific way
to (also into, unto) one's (also the) shirtc1300
in or of (a) suitc1325
in ragsa1350
in (also on) one's shirtc1380
in suit of or with1389
thinlya1400
in suit with1488
finely?1552
raggedly1552
smoothly1579
garish1590
briskly1592
in one's waistcoat1607
in mourning1621
in cuerpoa1640
in gala1757
airily1768
plain1808
in mufti1816
in, on one's stocking-soles1827
seedily1837
in beaver1840
back to front1869
dowdily1887
dossily1903
head-to-toe1946
sharp1951
sharply1965
understatedly1972
1768 L. Sterne Sentimental Journey I. 5 He pulls out his purse, and holding it airily and uncompress'd, looks round him.
1797 A. Radcliffe Italian I. vii. 201 If he had been as airily dressed as yourself.
1818 J. Keats Endymion ii. 73 Virgin's bower, trailing airily.
1851 N. Hawthorne Snow Image (1879) 23 Airily as she was clad.
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. II. xi. 113 They were airily clad..and they soon crowded back into their ant-hill.
1884 G. C. Davies Norfolk Broads xxxviii. 290 The browning grasses quivered airily against the sky.
1901 I. Fry Day of Small Things 97 I went down gaily with the airily-dressed party to the hall door.
1973 M. Amis Rachel Papers 146 The white smock made short work of her breasts, but on the other hand it twirled airily high up her thin Bambi thighs.
1996 R. Mabey Flora Britannica 84/1 Silver birches—white-trunked, airily leafed, rich in bird-life—are exquisite trees.
3. Gracefully, delicately, ethereally.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beauty > pleasing appearance > [adverb] > delicately or daintily
gingerly?1520
minionly1545
daintily1561
daintly1563
minikinly1580
delicately1587
incony?1602
dainty1610
airily1823
society > leisure > the arts > the arts in general > [adverb] > qualities generally
strongly1642
artistly1664
correctlya1704
meretriciously1755
boldly1765
chastely1815
literally1816
airily1823
stylistically1889
decadently1892
1823 J. McHenry Wilderness I. vii. 99 They tripped airily and nimbly along in measured movements, with great art, sprightliness, and vivacity.
1869 Daily News 15 Dec. Their details are more picturesque..more quaintly, strangely, and airily wrought.
1922 V. Woolf Jacob's Room iii. 48 Look, as they pass into service, how airily the gowns blow out.
a1974 A. Sexton Compl. Poems (1981) 516 The moth..floats airily out of my hands.
2006 National Post (Canada) (Nexis) 19 Oct. (Arts & Life section) 4 A..dress..had a simple drawstring empire waist, and flowed behind the model as airily as a waft of expensive perfume.
4. On or at a high level, loftily.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > gas > air > [adverb]
aerially1812
airily1850
the mind > mental capacity > spirituality > [adverb] > loftily
airily1850
1850 Jrnl. Statist. Soc. London 13 132 Houses airily situated, high from the water level, and..comparatively off from the shore.
1877 P. J. Bailey Festus (ed. 10) xxxviii. 586 Yon faint crescent, in the sky Airily hovering, like to a spirit scarce 'scaped From death-pyres still aglow.
1879 Ld. Tennyson Lover's Tale (new ed.) 53 There be some hearts so airily built, that they,..ride highly Above the perilous seas of Change and Chance.
1906 C. H. A. Forbes-Lindsay Philippines xi. 450 From the horizon mountain after mountain springs airily into the heavens.
2001 Times Educ. Suppl. (Nexis) 3 Aug. 18 Most people who went will remember the Skylon—a 200ft shiny aluminium pencil airily suspended on wires.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adv.1687