deadly
Part of speech: adj
adv
Morphological type: derivation
Etymology: From Middle English dedly, dedlych, dedlich, from Old English dēadlīċ (adjective), from Proto-West Germanic *dauþalīk, from Proto-Germanic *dauþalīkaz (“deadly”, literally “deathly”). By surface analysis, dead + -ly. Cognate with Saterland Frisian dodelk (“deadly”), West Frisian deadlik (“deadly”), Dutch dodelijk (“deadly”), German tödlich (“deadly”), Swedish dödlig (“deadly, fatal, mortal”), Icelandic dauðlegur (“mortal”).
The adverb is from Middle English dedliche, from Old English dēadlīċe (adverb), from the adjective.
Inflected forms:
form: deadlier
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: more deadly
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: deadliest
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: most deadly
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: more deadly
pos: adv
tags: comparative
form: most deadly
pos: adv
tags: superlative
Senses:
gloss: Subject to death; mortal.
pos: adj
tags: obsolete
rare
examples: […]he ſuffred hym ſelfe to be made mortall and dedly, that innocent & gyltles in hym ſelfe: he myght be ſlayne & deye for the gylty man.
❧ That when the iournay / of this dedly life / My ſely ghoſte / hath finiſhed and thence[…]
And next we find / Ourselves in Heaven. Even man's deadly life / Can be there, by God's leave.
gloss: Causing death; lethal.
pos: adj
examples: But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶[…]The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window[…], and a 'bead' could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the hedge, little dreaming that the deadly tube was levelled at them.
[…] others search for new and deadlier gases, or for soluble poisons capable of being produced in such quantities as to destroy the vegetation of whole continents […]
The killing of more than 90 journalists in Iraq in 43 months after the invasion was to mark it out as one of the deadliest conflicts to cover.
gloss: Aiming or willing to destroy; implacable; desperately hostile.
pos: adj
examples: deadly enemies
[…]diſmount thy tucke, be yare in thy preparation, for thy aſſaylant is quick, skilfull and deadly.
gloss: Very accurate (of aiming with a bow, firearm, etc.).
pos: adj
examples: Its deadly aim at vast distances, which condition of the mechanical power brought has made it the dread of the sepoys, who term it "the gun that kills without making any sound," contrasts strangely with the performances of Brown Bess of old, which at any range beyond a hundred yards was so uncertain in its aim that it has been calculated that the soldier shot away the weight in lead of every man that he hit.
For him the gibbet shall be built; For him the stake prepared: Him shall the scorn and wrath of men Pursue with deadly aim ; And malice, envy, spite and lies, Shall desecrate his name.
Slaves have been freed, religious tests revoked, Bread tax abolished, and free trade secured, Reform twice carried, franchise much enlarged, With deadly aim to crush foul bribery, And promise given of yet better things.
Possibly some have thought that we were going to make war on some favorite doctrine or political dogma; that we had set brethren to whetting their sword, and drawing their bow for deadly aim at precious truth; as the wicked Haman had secured a decree that all the Jews should be killed.
The Elf turned and with deadly accuracy shot an arrow where his nose pointed him. The shaft sliced through the air, pierced the tall grass, and struck the Dwarf's shoes one hundred yards out . . . but the Dwarf was not in them!
Was that really her mom grabbing a large Nerf gun from some sort of side holster and aiming it straight at Camden's head? Yes, it was. And the woman was blessed with deadly accuracy.
There is a wealth of common sense and humanity in that, and perhaps the most unexpected element in the idea of the Seven Deadly Sins is that, although it points with deadly accuracy to our capacity for evil, it also leaves us with a vivid and strong sense of what it means to be human.
gloss: Very boring.
pos: adj
tags: informal
examples: “I don't mean all of your friends—only a small proportion—which, however, connects your circle with that deadly, idle, brainless bunch—the insolent chatterers at the opera, the gorged dowagers, the worn-out, passionless men, the enervated matrons of the summer capital,[…]!”
“Then my father died. He left me very badly off. I had to go and live with some old aunts in Yorkshire.” She shuddered. “You will understand me when I say that it was a deadly life for a girl brought up as I had been. The narrowness, the deadly monotony of it, almost drove me mad.”
Now, at school, I was forced to sit in classes, to take notes and exams, to use textbooks that were flat, impersonal, deadly.
Students, of course, know the difference between a deadly lecture and a stimulating one. An excellent lecturer who maintains a high level of interaction with the audience stimulates thinking and learning.
gloss: Excellent, awesome, cool.
pos: adj
tags: Ireland
Newfoundland
informal
gloss: Fatally, mortally.
pos: adv
tags: obsolete
examples: [P]erceiving himſelfe deadly wounded by a ſhot received in his body, being by his men perſwaded to come off and retire himſelfe from out the throng, anſwered, he would not now ſo neere his end, beginne to turne his face from his enemie[…]
gloss: In a way which suggests death.
pos: adv
examples: Her face suddenly became deadly white.
gloss: Extremely, incredibly.
pos: adv
examples: Though deadly weary, till ſpectators do / At once part and call them good boys too[…]
John had got an impreſſion that Lewis was ſo deadly cunning a man, that he was afraid to venture himſelf alone with him.
Related words: dead
Derived words: deadlihood
deadlily
deadliness
deadly amanita
deadly carrot
deadly diamond of death
deadly embrace
Deadly Never-Green
deadly nightshade
deadly sin
nondeadly
silent but deadly
undeadly
fail-deadly
Translations: