HOMELY (homelier, homeliest)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: homelier    , homeliest   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does homely mean? 

• HOMELY (adjective)
  The adjective HOMELY has 4 senses:

1. lacking in physical beauty or proportion

2. having a feeling of home; cozy and comfortable

3. plain and unpretentious

4. without artificial refinement or elegance

  Familiarity information: HOMELY used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HOMELY (adjective)

Comparative: homelier   
Superlative: homeliest   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Lacking in physical beauty or proportion

Synonyms:

homely; plain

Context example:

a plain girl with a freckled face

Similar:

unattractive (lacking beauty or charm)

Derivation:

homeliness (an appearance that is not attractive or beautiful)

homeliness (having a drab or dowdy quality; lacking stylishness or elegance)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Having a feeling of home; cozy and comfortable

Synonyms:

homelike; homely; homey; homy

Context example:

a homey little inn

Similar:

comfortable; comfy (providing or experiencing physical well-being or relief ('comfy' is informal))

Derivation:

home (where you live at a particular time)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Plain and unpretentious

Context example:

homely fare

Similar:

plain (not elaborate or elaborated; simple)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Without artificial refinement or elegance

Context example:

homely manners

Similar:

inelegant (lacking in refinement or grace or good taste)

Derivation:

homeliness (having a drab or dowdy quality; lacking stylishness or elegance)

 Context examples 

Without his scrapbooks, his chemicals, and his homely untidiness, he was an uncomfortable man.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I could not help thinking even in that interval, I remember, what a noble fellow he was in appearance, and how homely and plain Mr. Mell looked opposed to him.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The homely word job, like much that I have written, offends you.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

It is kindly and homely to me to hear her voice and to feel that she is behind me.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The homely English bee buzzed everywhere around us.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Its splendour was in such contrast to his homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon it.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The ordinary sitting-room and bedrooms I left much as they were: for I knew Diana and Mary would derive more pleasure from seeing again the old homely tables, and chairs, and beds, than from the spectacle of the smartest innovations.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I'm homely and awkward and odd and old, and you'd be ashamed of me, and we should quarrel—we can't help it even now, you see—and I shouldn't like elegant society and you would, and you'd hate my scribbling, and I couldn't get on without it, and we should be unhappy, and wish we hadn't done it, and everything would be horrid!

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

The hunters have experimented and practised with their rifles and shotguns till they are satisfied, and the boat-pullers and steerers have made their spritsails, bound the oars and rowlocks in leather and sennit so that they will make no noise when creeping on the seals, and put their boats in apple-pie order—to use Leach’s homely phrase.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

He had received a good education, but, on succeeding early in life to a small independence, had become indisposed for any of the more homely pursuits in which his brothers were engaged, and had satisfied an active, cheerful mind and social temper by entering into the militia of his county, then embodied.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)