If you say that someone is deathly pale or deathly still, you are emphasizing that they are very pale or still, like a dead person.
[literary, emphasis]
Bernadette turned deathly pale.
She lay deathly still.
2. graded adverb [ADVERB adjective]
If you say that someone is deathly afraid, you are emphasizing that they are very afraid. You can also say that someone or something is deathly silent, dull, boring, cold, or tired.
[literary, emphasis]
He is deathly afraid of black crows.
I took a deathly dull job.
3. adjective [ADJECTIVE noun]
If you say that there is a deathly silence or a deathly hush, you are emphasizing that it is very quiet.
[literary, emphasis]
A deathly silence hung over the square.
More Synonyms of deathly
deathly in British English
(ˈdɛθlɪ)
adjective
1.
deadly
2.
resembling death
a deathly quiet
Derived forms
deathliness (ˈdeathliness)
noun
deathly in American English
(ˈdɛθli)
adjective
1.
causing death; deadly
2.
like or characteristic of death
adverb
3.
in a deathlike way; to a deadly degree
4.
extremely
deathly ill
Word origin
ME dethlich < OE dēathlic: see death
Examples of 'deathly' in a sentence
deathly
I do the weekly shop because it's deathly quiet.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
She looked deathly pale but there was no sign of blood.
Paige, Frances The Glasgow Girls (1994)
Human forms looked big and heavy against the deathly pale gray.
Clerk, Jayana & Siegel, Ruth Modern Literatures of the Non-Western World: Where the Waters Are Born (1995)
There was little or no traffic and there was a deathly hush.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
The controversial goal capped a second half that was as thrilling as the first had been deathly dull.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
There was a deathly hush for most of the night as their team gave the fans little to get excited about.
The Sun (2010)
To me, it is deathly dull.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
When he walked into a room, it went a deathly quiet.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
She simply goes deathly quiet - a bad sign.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
I thought my deathly pale face made me look awful.
The Sun (2009)
Friends now accept my diet as part of my personality, although many still find my choices deathly dull.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
He looked deathly pale now.
Paige, Frances The Glasgow Girls (1994)
It just went deathly quiet.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
I was deathly afraid of marriage.
The Sun (2011)
In an otherwise deathly dull contest, the spectacle of the siblings slogging it out for the top job has provided a modicum of entertainment.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
One passenger said: 'She turned a deathly shade of pale.
The Sun (2008)
It was the middle of August, but the house was deathly cold.
The Sun (2015)
But if you're expecting deathly cold, forget it.
The Sun (2010)
These days, it's deathly quiet.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
There was space between the tables to move and breathe, easy light, quietness without a deathly hush.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
I'm deathly afraid of the roads that lead to Corcoran.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The insurance sector is no longer the strict preserve of the deathly dull and has been setting the pulses running for much of the City's smart money.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
In other languages
deathly
British English: deathly ADVERB
If you say that someone is deathly pale or deathly still, you are emphasizing that they are very pale or still, like a dead person.
She turned deathly pale.
American English: deathly
Brazilian Portuguese: completamente
Chinese: 死一般地
European Spanish: lívido
French: comme la mort
German: toten-
Italian: come un cadaverepallido
Japanese: 死人のように
Korean: 죽은 듯이
European Portuguese: completamente
Latin American Spanish: lívido
British English: deathly ADJECTIVE
If you say that there is a deathly silence or a deathly hush, you are emphasizing that it is very quiet.
A deathly silence hung over the square.
American English: deathly
Brazilian Portuguese: profundo
Chinese: 死寂的
European Spanish: sepulcral
French: de mort
German: eisig
Italian: di mortesilenzio
Japanese: 死人のような
Korean: 치명적인
European Portuguese: profundo
Latin American Spanish: sepulcral
1 (adjective)
Definition
resembling death
the deathly pallor of her cheeks
Synonyms
deathlike
white
He turned white and began to stammer.
pale
She looked pale and tired.
ghastly
She looked ghastly - frail, thin and colourless.
wan
He looked wan and tired.
gaunt
Looking gaunt and tired, he denied there was anything to worry about.