lovely

Less common meanings

4. 4
   beautifullyadverbcolloquialUK

   Beautifully, or in a very pleasing way.

   The engine's running lovely now that the mechanic has had a proper look at it.

   That cake's risen lovely, just look at it.

   UsageUsed informally after verbs, without another -ly: scrubs up lovely, running lovely. In formal writing, use beautifully or nicely.

   Similarbeautifully, nicely

   Oppositebadly, poorly

5. 5
   attractive personnouncolloquialcountable

   A very attractive person, especially a professional beauty whose looks are part of the job.

   The ad showed a sports car surrounded by smiling lovelies in sequined dresses.

   Every summer the magazine put a new beach lovely on its cover.

   UsageUsually in the plural (young lovelies). It emphasizes people's looks and can sound objectifying, so use it with care.

   Similarbeauty

   Note

   Norman Lindsay's Dust or Polish? (1950) already has a character sneer at what the newspapers call a Lovely or a Glamour Girl.

6. 6
   pretty thingnouncountable

   A beautiful or delightful object.

   The market stalls were piled high with ripe peaches, plums, and other summer lovelies.

   This little lovely is the oldest brooch in her collection.

   Similargem

7. 7
   easy to likeadjectiveobsolete

   Inspiring love or friendship in others; amiable.

   a most lovely gentlemanlike man

   c. 1595, William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”

   Note

   Shakespeare's "a most lovely gentlemanlike man", in A Midsummer Night's Dream, shows the word still close to its Old English source, luflīc, "amiable, loving, lovable". The sense is obsolete, and in older writing it can blur into the meaning about beauty, so a reader should keep both in mind: lovely there can mean likable as much as good-looking. Source

   Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • The exact phrase occurs in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream; Quince speaks it about Pyramus in Act 1, Scene 2. folger.edu
   • Lovely derives from Old English luflīc, glossed amiable, loving and lovable. en.wiktionary.org
   • The amiable sense is obsolete, and the Shakespeare quotation exemplifies it. en.wiktionary.org
8. 8
   adjectivearchaic

   Deserving to be praised.

   He is altogether lovely. O, all our praises of him are poor and low things!

   1807, Erasmus Middleton, Evangelical biography

   О praise the Lord, for the Lord is gracious : О sing praises unto his Name, for it is lovely.

   1823, Church of England, Llyfr gweddi gyffredin

   Note

   Here a different word shares the spelling: Middle English lofly is built on lofe, praise, and its cousins are German löblich and Dutch loffelijk, both meaning praiseworthy. It lived on in devotional writing, as in the Prayer Book psalm that bids readers "sing praises unto his Name, for it is lovely": the name is lovely because it deserves praise. Source

   Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

   • The praise-related lovely has a separate Middle English derivation, from lofly. en.wiktionary.org
   • Lofe is a Middle English spelling of the word meaning praise. en.wiktionary.org
   • German löblich and Dutch loffelijk are cognates, both meaning praiseworthy. en.wiktionary.org
   • The word survives in devotional writing, including the quoted Prayer Book psalm. prayerbook.ca
   • The Prayer Book quotation exemplifies lovely meaning worthy of praise. en.wiktionary.org
9. 9
   adjectiveobsolete

   Full of love, or showing love toward someone.

   seal the title with a lovely kiss

   c. 1590, William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”

   Note

   The word once looked out from the lover rather than at the beloved. In The Taming of the Shrew, to "seal the title with a lovely kiss" is to seal it with a loving one, a kiss given with affection. The sense is obsolete, so a modern reader meeting it in Shakespeare should translate it as fond or loving; a beautiful kiss misreads the line. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

   • Lovely formerly meant loving or full of love. en.wiktionary.org
   • “Seal the title with a lovely kiss” occurs in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. folger.edu
   • Lovely in this quotation means loving or affectionate, rather than beautiful. shakespeareswords.com
   • The loving sense is obsolete. en.wiktionary.org