# deadly

Pronunciation: say "DED-lee" /ˈdɛdli/

## Adjective

1. Causing death, or capable of causing it.
   - Simple: Able to cause death in a person or animal.
   - _The cobra delivers a deadly dose of venom in a single bite._
   - _Left untreated, the infection turned out to be deadly within a week._
3. Filled with hostility fierce enough to seek another's destruction; implacable.
   - Simple: Wanting to harm or destroy an enemy completely.
   - _The rival warlords remained deadly foes until both were dead._
   - _A deadly feud divided the village for decades._
4. Highly accurate in aim, as with a bow or firearm.
   - Simple: Very accurate when shooting a bow, gun, or other weapon.
   - _The sniper proved deadly at long range, missing almost nothing._
   - _Famous for a deadly throwing arm, he rarely missed the mark._
6. Extremely dull or tedious; thoroughly boring. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Extremely boring and not fun at all.
   - _The conference dragged on through one deadly session after another._
   - _His speeches were so deadly that half the audience dozed off._
7. Excellent, impressive, or admirable; a strong expression of approval. *(dialectal, Ireland, Newfoundland)*
   - Simple: Really good: impressive, excellent, or admirable.
   - _Everyone reckoned the new mural down by the river was deadly._
   - _He gave a deadly speech at the gathering, and the whole mob cheered._

## Adverb

2. To an extreme degree; used to intensify the word it modifies.
   - Simple: Used to make another word much stronger, meaning very or extremely.
   - _The negotiators remained deadly earnest throughout the standoff._
   - _Her timing was deadly precise, never a beat off._
5. In a manner suggestive of death, such as extreme stillness or paleness.
   - Simple: In a way that makes something seem like death.
   - _He lay deadly still on the cot, and we feared the worst._
   - _The corridor fell deadly silent the moment the alarm stopped._

## Adjective

8. Liable to death; mortal: subject to dying as ordinary creatures are. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Able to die, as all living things are.

## Adverb

9. Fatally; in a manner that causes death. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: In a way that causes someone's death.

## Origin

From Middle English dedly, from Old English dēadlīċ, going back to Proto-Germanic *dauþalīkaz ("deadly", literally "deathly"); by surface analysis, dead + -ly. It is related to Dutch dodelijk, German tödlich, and Swedish dödlig ("deadly, fatal, mortal"). The adverb comes from Old English dēadlīċe, formed from the adjective.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/deadly (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).