stately

C1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈsteɪtli/ UK /ˈsteɪtli/ See IPA manual

Freq #28537

Meanings

1

adj
Grand, impressive, and dignified in appearance.

They visited a stately old mansion in the countryside.
2

adj
Slow, calm, and dignified in movement.

The procession moved at a stately pace through the streets.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · grand, impressive, and... baronial imposing noble

Word family

Forms statelierstatelieststateliness

Derived forms overstatelystatelilystatelinessunstately

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

stately home
a large impressive country house associated with an aristocratic family

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Middle English staately, staatly, stateli, statelie, stately, statelyche, statelye, statli, statly. Compare stour. By surface analysis, state + -ly (adjectival suffix).

staately Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# stately

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈsteɪtli/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈsteɪtli/
**Frequency rank:** 28537

## Meanings
1. Grand, impressive, and dignified in appearance.
2. Slow, calm, and dignified in movement.

## Examples
- They visited a stately old mansion in the countryside.
- The procession moved at a stately pace through the streets.

## Derived Forms
- overstately
- statelily
- stateliness
- unstately

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: staately

## Etymology
From Middle English staately, staatly, stateli, statelie, stately, statelyche, statelye, statli, statly. Compare stour. By surface analysis, state + -ly (adjectival suffix).

## AI Etymology
Stately is from Middle English staately, staatly, stateli, statelie, stately, statelyche, statelye, statli, statly. Compare stour. By surface analysis, state + -ly (adjectival suffix). The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern adjectival form is built from the named base and affix. In present-day use, it can mean grand, impressive, and dignified in appearance, or slow, calm, and dignified in movement. Derived formations include overstately, statelily, stateliness, unstately.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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