sweetly

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”).

adv

  1. With a sweet taste or aroma.
  2. In a sweet or pleasant manner.
    "No, Auntie," said Hardman, sweetly, seriously. 1958, Anthony Burgess, The Enemy in the Blanket (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 232
  3. Nicely; finely; excellently.
    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. 2000, Bob Foster, Birdum or Bust!, Henley Beach, SA: Seaview Press, page 21

Attribution / Disclaimer All definitions come directly from Wiktionary using the Wiktextract library. We do not edit or curate the definitions for any words, if you feel the definition listed is incorrect or offensive please suggest modifications directly to the source (wiktionary/sweetly), any changes made to the source will update on this page periodically.