sweetly

English

Etymology

From Middle English swetly, swetely, sweteliche, from Old English swētlīċe (“sweetly; pleasantly”), equivalent to sweet +‎ -ly. Cognate with Old High German swuozlīhho (“sweetly”), Icelandic sætlega (“sweetly; with gratitude”), German süßlich (“sweetish; sugary”), Dutch zoetelijk (“sentimental”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈswiːtli/
Audio (US) (file)
Hyphenation: sweet‧ly

Adverb

sweetly (comparative sweetlier or more sweetly, superlative sweetliest or most sweetly)

In a sweet or pleasant manner.
- 1958, Anthony Burgess, The Enemy in the Blanket (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 232:
  "No, Auntie," said Hardman, sweetly, seriously.
Nicely; finely; excellently.
- 2000, Bob Foster, Birdum or Bust!, Henley Beach, SA: Seaview Press, page 21:
  Sitting in the seat with the engine off before that day, the gears slid in so sweetly, and double de-clutching was so easy, I had done it a million times.

Translations

in a sweet or pleasant manner

Armenian: քաղցր (hy) (kʿałcʿr)
Belarusian: со́ладка (sóladka)
Catalan: dolçament (ca)
Czech: sladce
Esperanto: dolĉe, aminde
Finnish: makeasti (fi)
French: doucement (fr)
Georgian: ტკბილად (ṭḳbilad)
German: süß (de)
Hungarian: édesen
Italian: dolcemente (it), carezzevolmente (it), soavemente
Latin: dulciter, suāviter
Latvian: saldi
Lithuanian: mielai
Middle English: swoote
Norman: douochement
Old English: swōte
Polish: słodko (pl)
Portuguese: docemente
Romanian: dulce (ro)
Russian: сла́дко (ru) (sládko)
Spanish: dulcemente, abemoladamente (es)
Swedish: sött (sv)
Turkish: tatlı tatlı (tr)
Ukrainian: со́лодко (sólodko)

Anagrams

Westley