English Online Dictionary. What means deadly? What does deadly mean?
English
Etymology
From Middle English dedly, dedlych, dedlich, from Old English dēadlīċ (adjective). Cognate with Dutch dodelijk, German tödlich. By surface analysis, dead + -ly.
The adverb is from Middle English dedliche, from Old English dēadlīċe (adverb), from the adjective.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈdɛd.li/
- Rhymes: -ɛdli
Adjective
deadly (comparative deadlier or more deadly, superlative deadliest or most deadly)
- (obsolete, rare) Subject to death; mortal.
- Causing death; lethal.
- Aiming or willing to destroy; implacable; desperately hostile.
- Very accurate (of aiming with a bow, firearm, etc.).
- (informal) Very boring.
- (informal, Australian Aboriginal, Ireland, Newfoundland) Excellent, awesome, cool.
Usage notes
- The sense "excellent, awesome, cool" is associated especially with Canada, but is also used in Ireland, and in Australia, where it is especially used by or in connection with Indigenous Australians. It is thought that the term first arrived in Canada via Irish migrants to Newfoundland.
Derived terms
Translations
Adverb
deadly (comparative more deadly, superlative most deadly)
- (obsolete) Fatally, mortally.
- In a way which suggests death.
- Extremely, incredibly.
Derived terms
- fail-deadly
Collocations
Some adjectives commonly collocating with deadly:
- deadly serious
- deadly clever
- deadly good
Translations
Related terms
- dead