Willa Cather
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Comely Has a Broad and Beautiful History
Although comely is now typically used to describe the appearance of human beings, it was once used more broadly of other appealing things, such as fine clothing. Comely can be traced back to Old English words variously meaning "glorious," "lively," or "fine." If you are looking to pretty up your prose or poetry with additional words meaning "beautiful," English is well-supplied with them. Aside from beautiful itself, we have lovely, handsome, pretty, fair, good-looking, gorgeous, ravishing, and even well-favored.
Synonyms
Examples of comely in a Sentence
Deborah Treisman, The New Yorker, 27 Oct. 2024
This road car with racetrack roots emerged as a shot across the bow of Jaguar after its comely E-type was unveiled at the 1961 Geneva Motor show.
—Erik Shilling, Robb Report, 12 Apr. 2024
Here is the story of a comely girl, a mulatto, Margaret Toogood, Maggy.
—Anna Deavere Smith, The Atlantic, 13 Nov. 2023
Chin picks up a slide in comely tones of gray, brown, and off-white.
—Karen Wright, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019
See all Example Sentences for comely 
Dictionary Entries Near comely
Cite this Entry
“Comely.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comely. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
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comely
adjective
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