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/hˈoʊmli/ Listen

adjective

Homely adj. (compar. homelier; superl. homeliest)

Belonging to, or having the characteristics of, home; domestic; familiar; intimate. (Archaic) "With all these men I was right homely, and communed with, them long and oft." "Their homely joys, and destiny obscure."

Plain; unpretending; rude in appearance; unpolished; as, a homely garment; a homely house; homely fare; homely manners. "Now Strephon daily entertains His Chloe in the homeliest strains."

Of plain or coarse features; uncomely; ugly; usually used of people, especially women; contrary to handsome. "None so homely but loves a looking-glass."

adverb

Homely adv. Plainly; rudely; coarsely; as, homely dressed. (R.)

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Etymology of 'Homely'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Homely" Quotes from Famous Books

... pressing a button. In a moment a maid brought in a tray shining with silver and porcelain, set it down on the table in front of Mrs. Draper, and then wheeled in a little circular table with shelves, a glorified edition in gleaming mahogany of the homely, white-painted wheeled-tray of Sylvia's home. On the shelves was a large assortment of delicate, small cakes and paper-thin sandwiches. While she poured out the amber-colored tea into the translucent cups, Mrs. Draper kept up with the new-comer a lively ...

— The Bent Twig • Dorothy Canfield

... hint as the play of "Othello" performed in the Russian language in a railroad station by Dockstader's minstrels. A royal and generous lady this Pittsburg, though—homely, hearty, with flushed face, washing the dishes in a silk dress and white kid slippers, and bidding Raggles sit before the roaring fireplace and drink champagne with his pigs' ...

— The Trimmed Lamp and Others • O Henry

... strong rush of water, its steep banks forming a plateau on either hand. The narrow gorge was spanned by a rough bridge of boats lashed firmly together; and on the farther side Honor found a lone dak bungalow, its homely dovecot and wheeling pigeons striking a friendly note amid the callousness of the ...

— Captain Desmond, V.C. • Maud Diver

... noblest faculty of man, would be of no service to the common people: but to tell them that they may die in a fit of drunkenness, and shew them how dreadful that would be, cannot fail to make a deep impression. Sir, when your Scotch clergy give up their homely manner, religion will soon decay in that country.' Let this observation, as Johnson meant it, ...

— Life Of Johnson, Vol. 1 • Boswell

... meant. And Miss Button, his stenographer, needed a little trip. Ten days at Atlantic City with her mother would pull her up. She had been looking badly lately—worried about her mother, Weeks had told him. Pity she was so homely. It was pretty unfair the way women had to work at both ends of the line. Weeks, too, could get his wife that fur coat he'd been wanting her to have for three years. What an honest old duck Weeks was!—and who would ever believe him as full of sentiment as a boy of twenty? ...

— The Man in Lonely Land • Kate Langley Bosher

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