| / English Dictionary |
HOMELY
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
Irregular inflected forms: homelier , homeliest
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Lacking in physical beauty or proportion
Example:
a plain girl with a freckled face
Synonyms:
homely; plain
Classified under:
Similar:
unattractive (lacking beauty or charm)
Derivation:
homeliness (an appearance that is not attractive or beautiful)
homeliness (having a drab or dowdy quality; lacking stylishness or elegance)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Having a feeling of home; cozy and comfortable
Example:
a homey little inn
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Similar:
comfortable; comfy (providing or experiencing physical well-being or relief ('comfy' is informal))
Derivation:
home (where you live at a particular time)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Without artificial refinement or elegance
Example:
homely manners
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
inelegant (lacking in refinement or grace or good taste)
Derivation:
homeliness (having a drab or dowdy quality; lacking stylishness or elegance)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Plain and unpretentious
Example:
homely fare
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
plain (not elaborate or elaborated; simple)
Context examples:
In the homely Alpine villages or in the lonely mountain passes, I could tell by his quick glancing eyes and his sharp scrutiny of every face that passed us, that he was well convinced that, walk where we would, we could not walk ourselves clear of the danger which was dogging our footsteps.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It was written with a plain, unaffected, homely piety that I knew to be genuine, and ended with “my duty to my ever darling”—meaning myself.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
"You mustn't be frightened at us. We're just homely people—Hello, there's a letter for me."
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
There were folk, too, to be met upon the road—beggars and couriers, chapmen and tinkers—cheery fellows for the most part, with a rough jest and homely greeting for each other and for Alleyne.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
He was a homely man, but they thought his face quite heavenly when he smiled and said, with a fatherly look at them, Yes, my dears, I think the little girl will pull through this time.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
As to our own representative, the well-known athlete and international Rugby football player, E. D. Malone, he looks trained to a hair, and as he surveyed the crowd a smile of good-humored contentment pervaded his honest but homely face.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
And Mrs. Gummidge took his hand, and kissed it with a homely pathos and affection, in a homely rapture of devotion and gratitude, that he well deserved.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
The brothers, who were English to a man, pricked up their ears at the sound of the homely and yet unfamiliar speech; but the Abbot flushed red with anger, and struck his hand upon the oaken arm of his chair.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
“I suppose,” I remarked, that, homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to it—that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of some mystery and the punishment of some crime.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
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