homely

C1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈhoʊmli/ UK /ˈhəʊmli/ See IPA manual

Freq #26258

Meanings

1

adj
Simple, comfortable, and reminding you of home (British usage).

The little café had a homely feel, with soft chairs and the smell of fresh bread.
2

adj
Plain and not attractive in appearance (American usage).

He was a rather homely man, but his warm smile won everyone over.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · simple, comfortable, and... cosy domestic

2 adj · plain and not attractive in... plain

Word family

Forms homelierhomeliest

Derived forms homelilyhomelinessoverhomelyunhomely

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

homely fare
Simple, unpretentious food of the kind associated with home cooking.

Adjective + noun

Proverbs (1)

See all

Home is home
Matching variant: Home is home, be it ever so homely

Etymology

From Middle English homly, hoomly, hamely (“domestic, familiar, plain, unattractive”), from Old English *hāmlīċ (“of the home, domestic”), from Proto-West Germanic *haimalīk (“of or characteristic of home”), equivalent to home + -ly. Cognate with Scots hamely (“familiar, personal, private”), West Frisian heimelik, Dutch heimelijk (“secret, secretive, clandestine”), German heimlich (“secret, secretive, clandestine, undercover”), Danish hemmelig (“secret”), Swedish hemlig (“secret, concealed, privy, covert”), Faroese heimligur (“homelike, homey”), Icelandic heimlegur (“homely; worldly”).

homly Middle English *hāmlīċ Old English *haimalīk Proto-West Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# homely

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈhoʊmli/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈhəʊmli/
**Frequency rank:** 26258

## Meanings
1. Simple, comfortable, and reminding you of home (British usage).
2. Plain and not attractive in appearance (American usage).

## Examples
- The little café had a homely feel, with soft chairs and the smell of fresh bread.
- He was a rather homely man, but his warm smile won everyone over.

## Derived Forms
- homelily
- homeliness
- overhomely
- unhomely

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: homly
- Root: *hāmlīċ
- Root: *haimalīk

## Etymology
From Middle English homly, hoomly, hamely (“domestic, familiar, plain, unattractive”), from Old English *hāmlīċ (“of the home, domestic”), from Proto-West Germanic *haimalīk (“of or characteristic of home”), equivalent to home + -ly. Cognate with Scots hamely (“familiar, personal, private”), West Frisian heimelik, Dutch heimelijk (“secret, secretive, clandestine”), German heimlich (“secret, secretive, clandestine, undercover”), Danish hemmelig (“secret”), Swedish hemlig (“secret, concealed, privy, covert”), Faroese heimligur (“homelike, homey”), Icelandic heimlegur (“homely; worldly”).

## AI Etymology
Homely is from Middle English homly, hoomly, hamely (“domestic, familiar, plain, unattractive”), from Old English *hāmlīċ (“of the home, domestic”), from Proto-West Germanic *haimalīk (“of or characteristic of home”), equivalent to home + -ly. Cognate with Scots hamely (“familiar, personal, private”), West Frisian heimelik, Dutch heimelijk (“secret, secretive, clandestine”), German heimlich (“secret, secretive, clandestine, undercover”), Danish hemmelig (“secret”), Swedish hemlig (“secret, concealed, privy, covert”), Faroese heimligur (“homelike, homey”), Icelandic heimlegur (“homely; worldly”). In present-day use, it can mean simple, comfortable, and reminding you of home (British usage), or plain and not attractive in appearance (American usage). Derived formations include homelily, homeliness, overhomely, and unhomely.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

markdown