deadlyadj.
/ˈdɛdli/, U.S. /ˈdɛdli/ a. Subject to death, mortal. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > dead person or the dead > [adjective] > liable to death
deathlyeOE
deadlyc1000
brotel1340
mortalc1390
mortuala1500
deathful?1624
mortalized1633
cadaverable1651
cadaverizable1651
c1000 Homilies in B. Thorpe Anc. Laws Eng. II. 186 (Bosw.) Ðæt an deadlic man mihte ealne middaneard oferseon.
c1230 Hali Meid. 13 Iþis deadlich lif.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 244 Ne eȝe dyeadlich ne may [þet] naȝt ysy.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 10919 Godd bicom man dedli.
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) vii. 24 I am a creature dedly.
1477 Earl Rivers tr. Dictes or Sayengis Philosophhres (Caxton) (1877) lf. 62 Thinke thou art dedely.
1533 J. Gau tr. C. Pedersen Richt Vay sig. Ki This deidlie body sal be cled with inmortalite.
a1563 J. Bale Sel. Wks. (Parker Soc.) 97 Many holy prophets that were deadly men were martyred.
1845 P. J. Bailey Festus (ed. 2) 254 Even man's deadly life Can be there, by God's leave.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > [noun]
hadc900
lifesmaneOE
maneOE
world-maneOE
ghostOE
wyeOE
lifeOE
son of manOE
wightc1175
soulc1180
earthmanc1225
foodc1225
person?c1225
creaturec1300
bodyc1325
beera1382
poppetc1390
flippera1400
wat1399
corsec1400
mortal?a1425
deadly?c1450
hec1450
personagec1485
wretcha1500
human1509
mundane1509
member1525
worma1556
homo1561
piece of flesh1567
sconce1567
squirrel?1567
fellow creature1572
Adamite1581
bloat herringa1586
earthling1593
mother's child1594
stuff1598
a piece of flesh1600
wagtail1607
bosom1608
fragment1609
boots1623
tick1631
worthy1649
earthlies1651
snap1653
pippin1665
being1666
personal1678
personality1678
sooterkin1680
party1686
worldling1687
human being1694
water-wagtail1694
noddle1705
human subject1712
piece of work1713
somebody1724
terrestrial1726
anybody1733
individual1742
character1773
cuss1775
jig1781
thingy1787
bod1788
curse1790
his nabs1790
article1796
Earthite1814
critter1815
potato1815
personeityc1816
nibs1821
somebody1826
tellurian1828
case1832
tangata1840
prawn1845
nigger1848
nut1856
Snooks1860
mug1865
outfit1867
to deliver the goods1870
hairpin1879
baby1880
possum1894
hot tamale1895
babe1900
jobbie1902
virile1903
cup of tea1908
skin1914
pisser1918
number1919
job1927
apple1928
mush1936
face1944
jong1956
naked ape1965
oke1970
punter1975
the world > people > [noun]
maneOE
worldOE
all fleshc1000
mankinOE
earthOE
little worldc1175
man's kinda1200
mankinda1225
worldrichec1275
slimec1315
kindc1325
world1340
sectc1400
humanityc1450
microcosma1475
peoplea1500
the human kindred?1533
race1553
homo1561
humankind1561
universality1561
deadly?1590
mortality1598
rational1601
vicegerent1601
small world1604
flesh and blooda1616
mannity1621
human race1623
universea1645
nations1667
public1699
the species1711
Adamhood1828
Jock Tamson's bairns1832
folx1833
Bimana1839
human1841
peeps1847
menfolk1870
manfolk1876
amniota1879
peoplekind1956
personkind1972
?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) l. 2867 Þare is nane dedely..þat suffice to serche þe domes of god.
?1590 King James VI & I Speech Gen. Assembly in D. Calderwood True Hist. Church Scotl. (1844) V. 106 I..sall maintane the same against all deidlie.
1685 London Gaz. No. 2009/2 Whom we shall humbly Obey..Maintain and Defend with our Lives and Fortunes, against all deadly, as our only Righteous King and Soveraign.
a. In danger of death, like to die. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
a1300 E.E. Psalter xliii. 22 (Mätz.) For al dai dedelik er we [L. morte afficimur] for þe.
c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Franklin's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 332 My lady hath my deeth ysworn..but thy benygnytee Vp on my dedly herte haue some pitee.
a1640 J. Fletcher & P. Massinger Custome of Countrey v. iv, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Cc3v/2 How does the patient? Clod. You may inquire Of more than one; for two are sick, and deadly..her healths, despaird of, And in hers, his.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > [adjective] > relating to death
mortalc1425
deadly1470
capitalc1475
mortuary1542
parting?1570
deada1586
defunctive1601
lethal1607
deathly1763
deathya1822
1470–85 T. Malory Morte d'Arthur xiii. xi Not longe after that Ioseph was layd in his dedely bed.
1484 W. Caxton tr. G. de la Tour-Landry Bk. Knight of Tower (1971) cxxxv. 179 She..became seke, and laye in her dedely bedde.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > absence of life or consciousness > [adjective]
lifelessOE
unlivingOE
bloodless and bonelessOE
deadlya1225
dead1430
natureless1548
exanimate1552
inanimatea1555
unlively1563
spiritless1570
unquickened1610
unanimate1615
inanimal1623
inanimated1646
unvital1661
unanimated1697
unbreathing1709
unconscious1744
pulseless1820
azoic1854
not-living1869
abiotic1873
unvitalized1874
a1225 Juliana 22 To luten dedliche schaften as ȝe schulden to godd.
c1440 Secrees 132 It is swilk a secre þat vnnethis mannys brest may it vnderstonde, how may it þanne be wrete in dedly skyns?
4.
a. Causing death, or fatal injury; mortal, fatal.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > cause of death > [adjective]
deadlyc893
deathlyOE
deathfula1250
mortalc1390
capitalc1426
exitialc1475
fey1488
mortuala1500
perishinga1500
fatal?1518
ferial1528
mortiferousa1538
deadc1540
exitious?1545
deathlike1548
mortifying1555
starvingc1600
lethal1604
speedingc1604
vital1612
irrecoverable1614
feral1621
lethiferous1651
mortific1651
mortifical1657
daggering1694
exitiose1727
fateful1764
kill-devil1831
unsurvivable1839
lethiferal1848
tachythanatous1860
the world > life > death > dead person or the dead > [adjective] > dying
deadlyc893
swelting?a1400
dyingc1450
at (the) utterance1525
in (the, his) extremes1551
parting1562
Acherontic1597
ending1600
departing1603
on one's last legs1614
expiring1635
mortifying1649
morient1679
upon one's last stretch1680
gasping1681
à la mort1700
moribund1721
outward-bound1809
terminal1854
on the brink of the grave1872
defunctive1929
c893 tr. Orosius Hist. iii viii. §3 Forbræcon Romane heora aþas..and þær deadlicne sige geforan.
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (1724) 223 Ac ouercome vas he noȝt, þey ys wounden dedlych were.
c1377 G. Chaucer Anelida & Arcite 258 The cause..Of my dedely adversitie.
c1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode (1869) i. xxvii. 19 Þer is no wounde so cruelle; for with out remedye it is dedlych.
1562 N. Winȝet Certain Tractates (1888) I. 3 Lyke..to ane schip in ane dedely storme.
1603 R. Knolles Gen. Hist. Turkes 48 Euerie houre expecting the deadly blow of the hangman.
1774 J. Beattie Minstrel: 2nd Bk. xii. 7 Though Fortune aim her deadliest blow.
1874 J. Morley On Compromise 27 The narrowing and deadly effect of the daily iteration of poor short-sighted commonplaces.
b. As a quality of things: Having the property or capacity of causing death or fatal injury; poisonous, venomous, pestilential.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > cause of death > [adjective] > of things
deadlyc1380
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > poison > [adjective] > having specific qualities (of poison)
deadlyc1380
starkc1485
virulent1577
lingeringa1616
irritant1828
intoxicative1854
c1380 Eng. Wycliffite Serm. in Sel. Wks. I. 361 Dedli drynke, ȝif þei taken it..anoieþ hem not.
1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest f. 57v The inhabitants..doe set the whole Groue on fire, and by that meanes the deadly Serpents..are driuen away.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 109 Dire Stepdames..mix, for deadly Draughts, the poys'nous Juice. View more context for this quotation
1764 O. Goldsmith Traveller 21 Where beasts with man divided empire claim, And the brown Indian takes a deadly aim.
1788 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall (1846) V. l. 3 The winds..from the south-west, diffuse a noxious and even deadly vapour.
1839 C. Darwin in R. Fitzroy & C. Darwin Narr. Surv. Voy. H.M.S. Adventure & Beagle III. xi. 240 Many savages..have seen..small animals killed by the musket, without being..aware how deadly an instrument it was.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 1140 To camels..it is a deadly poison.
c. spec. In names of poisonous plants. deadly carrot, the genus Thapsia of umbelliferous plants, natives of Southern Europe. deadly nightshade, the Atropa Belladonna (family Solanaceæ), a rare shrub with dark purple flowers and large round black berries; the name is often popularly misapplied to the common Woody Nightshade, Solanum Dulcamara, with ovoid scarlet berries (also figurative).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants perceived as weeds or harmful plants > poisonous or harmful plants > poisonous bush or tree > [noun] > deadly nightshade
nightshadeOE
dwale14..
garden nightshade1576
deadly nightshade1578
sleeping nightshade1578
belladonna1597
death's herb1598
sleepy nightshade1611
banewort1861
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > [noun] > thapsia or deadly carrot
Thapsiac1400
deadly carrot1842
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball iii. xxi 446 Of great Nightshade, or Dwale. This noughtie and deadly plant is taken for a kinde of Solanum..The..fresh leaues of this deadly Nightshade may be applyed outwardly..The fruite of this Solanum is deadly.
a1652 J. Smith Select Disc. (1660) i. i. 5 That venemous Solanum, that deadly Nightshade, that derives its cold poyson into the Understandings of men.
1774 T. West Antiq. Furness 94 There grows the Lethal Bekan, or deadly nightshade.
1842 Penny Cycl. XXIV. 282/2 The species [of Thapsia] are mostly natives of the countries of the Mediterranean, and are known under the generic name Deadly Carrot.
1850 O. Winslow Inner Life i. 15 Satan has ever sought to engraft the deadly nightshade of error upon the life-giving Rose of Sharon.
1886 Pall Mall Gaz. 27 Aug. 4/1 The plant..popularly known as deadly nightshade in England is the woody nightshade or bitter-sweet..The appearance of the deadly nightshade, atropa belladonna of botany and medicine, is very different.
5. Theology.† b. deadly sinner n. Obsolete one who commits deadly sin.
a. Of sin: Entailing spiritual death; mortal (opposed to venial); esp. applied to the seven chief or ‘cardinal’ sins: see sin n.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > sin > kinds of sin > [adjective] > mortal
headlyOE
headOE
deadly?c1225
mortala1475
lethal1583
unvenial?1589
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 47 He [sc. David] dude þreo deadliche heaued sunnen.
1340 R. Rolle Pricke of Conscience 3362 Thir er tha hede syns that er dedely.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 9 Lecherie..is on of þe zeuen dyadliche zennes.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 16 Hi byeþ heaued..of alle zennes, and ginninge of alle kueade, be hy dyadliche, be hy uenial.
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) iii. 10 Þai say also þat fornicacion es na dedly bot a kyndely thing.
1484 W. Caxton tr. G. de la Tour-Landry Bk. Knight of Tower (1971) lxxxviii. 120 By this synne of glotonye men falle in alle the other sixe dedely synnes.
1544 Letanie in Exhort. vnto Prayer sig. Bv Fornication, & al deadly synne.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) iii. i. 110 Sure it is no sinne, Or of the deadly seuen it is the least. View more context for this quotation
a1711 T. Ken Hymnotheo in Wks. (1721) III. 269 The Seven curs'd deadly Sins..Pride, Envy, Sloth, Intemp'rance, Av'rice, Ire, And Lust.
1819 P. B. Shelley Cenci iv. iii. 69 We do but that which 'twere a deadly crime To leave undone.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > sin > kinds of sin > [noun] > mortal > person
deadly sinnera1631
a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1959) IV. 292 In those Duels..He that comes alive out of the field comes a dead man, because he comes a deadly sinner, and he that remaines dead in the field, is gone into an everlasting death.
6. Aiming, or involving an aim, to kill or destroy; implacable, mortal, to the death.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > cause of death > [adjective] > of hate or enmity
deadlyc1275
capital1395
mortalc1425
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 4264 Þine dæd-liche iuan.
c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 600 A leyde to þe Sarsyn strokes smerte riȝt als til his dedly fo.
c1430 Freemasonry 309 Throwghe envye, or dedly hate.
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis i. 1 Iunoes long fostred deadlye reuengement.
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Worc. 181 Betwixt whom and Sir Henry Berkeley, was so deadly a quarrell.
1703 N. Rowe Fair Penitent i. i. 206 With deadly Imprecations of her Self.
1813 Ld. Byron Bride Abydos ii. xii. 196 Although thy Sire's my deadliest foe.
1845 M. Pattison in Christian Remembrancer Jan. 68 The contest..becomes sharp and deadly.
7. Resembling or suggestive of death, death-like.
a. Of colour or aspect: pale like that of a corpse.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > skin > complexion > paleness > [adjective]
blatec1000
whiteOE
greena1275
blakec1275
bleykea1300
wana1300
palec1330
bleach1340
pale and wan (wan and pale)c1374
colourlessc1380
deadlyc1385
deadc1386
bloodlessc1450
earthlyc1460
ruddylessc1460
wan visaged?a1513
wanny1555
as pale or white as a clout1557
bleak1566
mealy1566
pale-faced1570
ghastly1574
white-faced1577
bleakish1581
pallid1590
whiggish1590
tallow-faced1592
maid-pale1597
lily1600
whey-colour1602
lew1611
roseless1611
Hippocratical1615
cadaverousa1661
Hippocratic1681
smock-faced1684
white-looked1690
livid1728
as white (or pale) as a sheet1752
squalid1753
deathly1791
etiolated1791
light-skinned1802
suety1803
shilpit1813
blanched1828
tallowy1830
suet-faced1834
pasty1836
tallowish1838
whey-faced1847
pasty-faced1848
aghast1850
waxen1853
complexionless1863
light-skin1877
lily-cheeked1877
lardy1879
wan-faced1881
exsanguinous1889
wheatish1950
c1385 G. Chaucer Legend Good Women Thisbe. 869 Who koude wryte which a dedely chere Hath Tesbe now.
c1460 (?c1400) Tale of Beryn l. 1337 His coloure gan to chaunge in-to a dedely hewe.
1561 R. Eden tr. M. Cortés Arte Nauigation ii. xix. sig. G.ii If [the Sunne] shew yealowe or deadly, tempest is like to folow.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) iv. iv. 94 I know it by their pale and deadly lookes. View more context for this quotation
1796 R. Southey Joan of Arc 289 By the flush'd cheek..And by the deadly paleness which ensued.
1803 Med. Jrnl. x. 152 In consequence of the..deadly look of the child.
b. Death-like in unconsciousness or physical prostration.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > physical insensibility > unconsciousness > [adjective]
insensible1426
senselessa1547
deadly1548
unsensible1568
slumbered1590
exanimate1619
lifeless1668
unconscious1832
impassive1846
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry V f. lvi The Normans hearyng of the kynges arriual wer sodenly striken with a deadly feare.
1562 N. Winȝet Certain Tractates (1888) I. 6 Quhat deidly sleip is this that hes oppressit ȝow?
1671 W. Salmon Synopsis Medicinæ iii. xxii. 413 Narcotick, causing deadly sleep.
1853 E. Bulwer-Lytton My Novel III. xi. vii. 270 A deadly faintness seized her.
c. Death-like in darkness, gloom, dullness, silence, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > [adjective] > gloomy or depressing
darkOE
unmerryOE
deathlyc1225
dolefulc1275
elengec1275
dreicha1300
coolc1350
cloudyc1374
sada1375
colda1400
deadlya1400
joylessc1400
unjoyful?c1400
disconsolatea1413
mournfula1425
funeralc1425
uncheerfulc1449
dolent1489
dolesome1533
heavy-hearted1555
glum1558
ungladsome1558
black1562
pleasureless1567
dern1570
plaintive?1570
glummish1573
cheerless1575
comfortless1576
wintry1579
glummy1580
funebral1581
discouraging1584
dernful?1591
murk1596
recomfortless1596
sullen1597
amating1600
lugubrious1601
dusky1602
sable1603
funebrial1604
damping1607
mortifying1611
tearful?1611
uncouth1611
dulsome1613
luctual1613
dismal1617
winterous1617
unked1620
mopish1621
godforsaken?1623
uncheerly1627
funebrious1630
lugubrous1632
drearisome1633
unheartsome1637
feral1641
drear1645
darksome1649
sadding1649
saddening1650
disheartening1654
funebrous1654
luctiferous1656
mestifical1656
tristifical1656
sooty1657
dreary1667
tenebrose1677
clouded1682
tragicala1700
funereal1707
gloomy1710
sepulchrala1711
dumpishc1717
bleaka1719
depressive1727
lugubre1727
muzzy1728
dispiriting1733
uncheery1760
unconsolatory1760
unjolly1764
Decemberly1765
sombre1768
uncouthie1768
depressing1772
unmirthful1782
sombrous1789
disanimating1791
Decemberish1793
grey1794
uncheering1796
ungenial1796
uncomforting1798
disencouraginga1806
stern1812
chilling1815
uncheered1817
dejecting1818
mopey1821
desponding1828
wisht1829
leadening1835
unsportful1837
demoralizing1840
Novemberish1840
frigid1844
morne1844
tragic1848
wet-blanketty1848
morgue1850
ungladdeneda1851
adusk1856
smileless1858
soul-sick1858
Novemberya1864
saturnine1863
down1873
lacklustre1883
Heaven-abandoneda1907
downbeat1952
doomy1967
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 17881 Þe folk in dedeli mirknes stadd.
a1535 T. More Dialoge of Comfort (1553) ii. i. sig. F.iiiv Continuall fatigacion, would make it [sc. the mind] dull and deadly.
1600 E. Blount tr. G. F. di Conestaggio Hist. Uniting Portugall to Castill 29 There was such a deadlie silence in the porte.
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear xxiv. 285 Als chearles, darke and deadly . View more context for this quotation
a1659 F. Rous Aspirations of Student in Academia Cœlestis (1702) 166 Sitting in Darkness and, a Deadly Shadow.
8.
a. Excessive, ‘terrible’, ‘awful’. colloquial.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective] > very great or extreme
strangec1380
overpassinga1382
passinga1387
most?c1430
extremec1460
horriblea1464
violenta1500
mainc1540
immortal?c1550
exquisite1552
sore1555
three-piled1598
thundering1618
devilish1639
shrewda1643
deadly1660
woundy1681
vast1696
monstrous1711
mortal1716
terrific1743
hell-fired1754
hellish1764
colossal1794
severe1805
awful1818
all-fired1829
terrible1829
quare and1847
ferocious1877
pluperfect1889
raging1889
giddy1896
utter1898
stiff1905
1660 S. Pepys Diary 1 Nov. (1970) I. 280 A deadly drinker he is, and grown exceeding fat.
1660 S. Pepys Diary 7 Dec. (1970) I. 312 So to the Privy Seale, where I signed a deadly number of Pardons.
1745 M. Delany Autobiogr. & Corr. (1861) II. 382 It has been a deadly while I have taken to answer your kind letter.
1773 O. Goldsmith She stoops to Conquer i. 14 You're come a deadly deal wrong!
1842 J. Wilson Recreations Christopher North I. 217 The quantity of corn that a few sparrows can eat..cannot be very deadly.
1843 T. Carlyle Past & Present iv. iv. 362 Why such deadly haste to make money?
b. Characterized by dead accuracy.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > freedom from error, correctness > exactness, accuracy, precision > [adjective] > strict, rigorous
just1490
nicea1522
point-devicea1529
exact1533
narrow1551
rigorousa1564
point-vice1574
curious1614
rigid?1626
hard1690
strict1749
deadly1909
1909 P. A. Vaile Mod. Golf v. 95 The peculiarity of the stymie stroke, played parallel with the ground, is its deadly direction.
Compounds
C1. deadly-dinted, deadly-handed, deadly-headed, deadly-like adjs.
ΚΠ
1594 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 v. iii. 10 The deadly hand of Clifford.
1596 C. Fitzgeffry Sir Francis Drake sig. D4 An hundred deadly-dinted staves.
1630 S. Rutherford Lett. (1863) I. 55 She is in a most dangerous and deadly-like condition.
C2.
deadly-lively adj. combining dullness and liveliness, lively in a gloomy and depressing way (colloquial); hence deadly-liveliness.
ΚΠ
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby xli. 398 Even her black dress assumed something of a deadly-lively air from the jaunty style in which it was worn.
1881 Mrs. Oliphant in Macmillan's Mag. 43 492 He was taken to Mentone..to the deadly-liveliness..and invalid surroundings of that shelter of the suffering.
1891 Spectator 12 Dec. 855 The deadly-liveliness of flippant and forced humour.
Draft additions February 2005
slang (originally U.S., now chiefly Australian (esp. in Australian Aboriginal usage) and Irish English). Great, wonderful; fantastic.
ΚΠ
1941 Life 27 Jan. 78/2 America's teen-age girls speak language of their own that is too divinely super... An orchestra that gives well (or sends) [i.e. thrills, excites] is called deadly, by way of approval.
1976 T. Murphy On Outside 21 Great, that's great, that's just deadly now.
1984 Black Voices Apr. 30 The next day..was painting day and the nice new coat of green paint looked deadly, real deadly.
1991 J. Chi et al. Bran Nue Dae in H. Gilbert Postcolonial Plays (2001) 337/2 I just wanna tell you that I think you singing good, that's good, that's deadly.
2000 M. Keyes Sushi for Beginners (2001) xxxii. 283 He's cool. Ashling, this is deadly news! Well, I hope you enjoy yourself.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1894; most recently modified version published online September 2019).
deadlyadv.
/ˈdɛdli/, U.S. /ˈdɛdli/ a. In a way that causes death; mortally, fatally; to death. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > cause of death > [adverb]
deadlyc1050
deathlya1250
fellyc1330
mortallyc1390
à la mort?1536
deadlily1621
lethally1661
mortiferously1685
perishingly1698
deathfully1761
vitally1891
c1050 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 436/8 Loetaliter, deadlice.
a1330 R. Mannyng Chron. (1810) 33 He wonded þe Kyng dedely fulle sore.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 115 Dedely, mortaliter, letaliter.
1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. (1634) i. xiv. 71 They are wounded, but not deadly.
1627 T. May tr. Lucan Pharsalia (new ed.) ix. sig. R5 The snakes bite deadly, fatall are their teeth.
c1679 in Roxburghe Ballads VI. 147 Killing Beauty..Be no more so deadly Cruel.
1816 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Canto III xxix. 17 When shower'd The death-bolts deadliest.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > sin > kinds of sin > [adverb] > mortal
deadly?c1225
mortally1526
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 49 Ȝef he is ifonded swa þet he sunege deadliche.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 223 Ine oþre cas me may zeneȝi, oþer liȝtliche, oþer dyadliche.
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) iii. 10 Þai say we synne dedly in þat we schaue oure berdes.
?1504 S. Hawes Example of Vertu sig. gg.viv A dongeon longe and wyde Made for theym that do synne dedely.
1579 L. Tomson tr. J. Calvin Serm. Epist. S. Paule to Timothie & Titus 112/2 To see those men, which were as it were Angels of God, fall: yea, & that deadly.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > killing > [adverb] > aiming to kill
deadlyc1330
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 2644 Sheo louede mykel þe slayn broþer, & dedlyk [v.r. dedely] hated sche þat oþer.
1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis I. 332 Thus hate I dedely thilke vice.
1578 J. Lyly Euphues f. 33 I haue hearde that women eyther loue entirely or hate deadly.
1650 S. Clarke Marrow Eccl. Hist. (1654) i. 44 The spitefull Devil deadly pursuing him.
3. In a manner resembling or suggesting death; as if dead; without animation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > [adverb] > resembling death
deadlya1400
deathly1791
deathy1811
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 18155 Þaa waful wras sa dedli dim, All lighted þe lem þat come wit him.
c1430 Pilgr. Ly. Manhode (1869) i. lxxxix. 50 Al dedliche [Fr. tout mornement] he answerde hire.
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III iii. vii. 26 They..Gazde each on other and lookt deadly pale.
1633 P. Fletcher Purple Island vii. iii. 107 How comes it then that in so near decay We deadly sleep in deep securitie?
1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. i. i. 3 Seeming to turn deadly faint.
4. To a fatal or extreme degree; ‘mortally’, ‘to death’; extremely, excessively. colloquial.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > extremely or exceedingly > excessively
cruellyc1385
overa1400
fullc1400
parlouslyc1425
mortalc1440
perilousc1440
spitefulc1450
devilish1560
pestilently1567
spitefully1567
cruel1573
parlous1575
deadly1589
intolerable?1593
fellc1600
perditlya1632
excessively1634
devilishly1635
desperate1636
woundya1639
woundlya1644
desperately1653
wicked1663
killing1672
woundily1706
wounded1753
mortally1759
dreadful1762
intolerably1768
perishing1776
tremendously1776
terrifically1777
diabolically1792
woundedly1794
thundering1809
all-firedly1833
preponderously1835
painfully1839
deadlilya1843
severely1854
furiously1856
diabolish1858
fiendish1861
demonish1867
sinfully1869
fiendishly1879
thunderingly1885
only too1889
nightmarishly1891
God almighty1906
Christ almighty1945
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 17225 I þat es sa dedli dill.]
1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xviii. 162 He..did..deadly belie the matter by his description.
1591 E. Spenser Virgil's Gnat in Complaints sig. I4v Iudgement seates, whose Iudge is deadlie dred.
1688 G. Miege Great French Dict. ii. sig. Qqq2/1 He is deadly slow, il est furieusement long.
1703 N. Rowe Ulysses Epil. 31 These Cups are pretty, but they're deadly dear.
1809 W. Scott Let. 14 Jan. (1932) II. 150 In this deadly cold weather.
1866 A. Trollope Belton Estate I. ix. 225 It is so deadly dull.
1878 H. B. Stowe Poganuc People xiii. 142 We were deadly tired.
5. In a dead manner; like a dead thing. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > absence of life or consciousness > [adverb]
deadly1581
1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (1586) ii. 50 To fall deadlie to the grounde, as a bodie without breath.
1844 J. B. Mozley Ess. (1878) II. 126 There is a belief in the Bible which is mere Bibliolatry, and..rests deadly in a mere book.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1894; most recently modified version published online December 2019).
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adj.c893
adv.c1050