Comely

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈkʌmli/

Definitions

1. Pleasing in appearance; attractive in a wholesome or modest way
2. Having an attractive and pleasant appearance that inspires approval or admiration
3. Possessing physical beauty or grace that is appealing and dignified in character
4. Attractive and pleasant to look at in a refined or dignified manner
5. Having an appealing physical appearance that conveys grace and modest beauty

Etymology: The adjective "comely" has a surprising starting point: its Old English ancestor "cȳmlīċ" meant "comely, beautiful, lovely," but the root it grew from, Proto-Germanic "*kūmijaz," meant "delicate, weak." Beauty, in other words, was once bound up with fragility, and the word's own building blocks point back to that older sense. The second half, "-līk," is a suffix that gave Germanic languages a way to describe qualities, much like the "-ly" in modern English. Joined to the root, it produced a word meaning something like "having the qualities of the delicate." Over the centuries, the sense of "beautiful" grew strong enough to overshadow the notion of weakness that lay underneath. Middle English gave "comely" a second life. The word broadened to cover "fitting, appropriate, or convenient," a meaning that persists in phrases about things that are seemly or proper. An adverb, "cumly" or "cumeliche," also developed, meaning "gracefully" or "fittingly," and the adjective and adverb shared the same sense of harmony between a thing and what suited it.

Synonyms: attractive, pretty, lovely, handsome, appealing

Antonyms: ugly, unattractive, unsightly, repulsive, displeasing