wifelikeadj.adv.
/ˈwʌɪflʌɪk/, U.S. /ˈwaɪfˌlaɪk/ A. adj.
Resembling a wife; having the qualities of a wife; befitting or characteristic of a wife.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > married person > married woman > [adjective] > relating to or characteristic of wife
wifelyOE
wivenc1400
wifelike1566
wifish1607
uxorial1800
1566 J. Barthlet Pedegrewe Heretiques f. 29v He..therevpon enioyned the woman, that she should betake hir to hir husbande, and vse hym with all wifelike and mariageable affection.
1618 W. Whately New Birth vi. 77 Often hath his soule prouoked to speake vnto God..telling him, as it were with a reuerent boldnes, and wife-like familiarity, how much good hee knowes by him.
1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII ii. iv. 135 Thy rare qualities,..Thy meeknesse Saint-like, Wife-like Gouernment. View more context for this quotation
1695 T. D'Urfey Gloriana xii. 20 Nor was Her Wife-like Vertue less admir'd, But every Breast where Honour was, inspir'd.
1761 F. Sheridan Mem. Miss Sidney Bidulph I. 209 You did not seem to number obedience amongst wife-like virtues in your own case.
1796 F. Jacson Plain Sense (ed. 2) II. 190 With a kind of bitter raillery he treated her wife-like fears.
1833 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Feb. 161/1 Love is in her—meek and gentle love, wifelike ere yet she be a bride.
1856 C. Merivale Hist. Romans under Empire V. xlii. 37 Her heart swelling with wifelike pride.
1909 Evening News 25 Mar. 4/4 If we discharge our duties steadfastly, one labouring with honest, manful zeal to provide, the other with noble wifelike prudence in dispensing.
1969 G. Chapman et al. Monty Python's Flying Circus (1989) I. x. 121 His wife is busying herself in wifelike activities.
2009 Toronto Star (Nexis) 14 Jan. l2 She's inwardly insecure and needy or was desperate to play the wifelike role.
B. adv.
In a manner characteristic of or befitting a wife.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > married person > married woman > [adverb] > as or in manner of a wife
wifelyc1540
wifelike1579
1579 J. Stubbs Discouerie Gaping Gulf sig. C.8v Or els must she tary here without comfort of her husband, seing her selfe despised or not wifelike esteemed.
1598 G. Chapman tr. Homer Seauen Bks. Iliades iv. 138 Nor canst thou skale our turrets tops nor leade the wiues to Fleete Of valiant men; that wifelike fear'st my aduerse charge to meete.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) iii. ii. 8 [She] vndergoes More Goddesse-like, then Wife-like; such Assaults As would take in some Vertue. View more context for this quotation
1864 Ld. Tennyson Aylmer's Field in Enoch Arden, etc. 93 When she laid, Wifelike, her hand in one of his.
1893 Chautauquan Mar. 648/1 Wifelike she beseeches him to remain within the walls.
1900 Evening Gaz. (Burlington, Iowa) 5 Dec. 7/2 At his humble home an old and anxious wife met him and, wifelike, gave him sympathy and encouragement.
1951 N. Schachner Thomas Jefferson (1957) xxvi. 355 Then, wifelike, Abigail unburdened herself of their private financial difficulties.
1995 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 28 Oct. 13 Her ambition appears, despite this period of waiting wifelike in the wings, to have been to get to Parliament too.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.adv.1566