PRINCELY (princelier, princeliest)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: princelier    , princeliest   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does princely mean? 

• PRINCELY (adjective)
  The adjective PRINCELY has 2 senses:

1. ostentatiously rich and superior in quality

2. having the rank of or befitting a prince

  Familiarity information: PRINCELY used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PRINCELY (adjective)

Comparative: princelier   
Superlative: princeliest   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Ostentatiously rich and superior in quality

Synonyms:

deluxe; gilded; grand; lush; luxurious; opulent; princely; sumptuous

Context example:

these architecture magazines are full of the lush interiors of the rich and famous

Similar:

rich (suggestive of or characterized by great expense)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Having the rank of or befitting a prince

Context example:

princely manner

Similar:

noble (of or belonging to or constituting the hereditary aristocracy especially as derived from feudal times)

Derivation:

prince (a male member of a royal family other than the sovereign (especially the son of a sovereign))

 Context examples 

“It is a princely offer,” said Holmes.

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

During this period of rest he has refused the most princely offers to take up various cases, having determined that his retirement was a permanent one.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

We are not too well loved by the Gascons now, and it is but the golden link of your princely coronet which holds us together.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Thirty thousand a year was all right, but dyspepsia and inability to be humanly happy robbed such princely income of all its value.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Just at sunset, the air turned cold and the sky cloudy: I went in, Sophie called me upstairs to look at my wedding-dress, which they had just brought; and under it in the box I found your present—the veil which, in your princely extravagance, you sent for from London: resolved, I suppose, since I would not have jewels, to cheat me into accepting something as costly.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

On the other hand, his payments were princely.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

When he had squared every debt, redeemed every pledge, he would still have jingling in his pockets a princely $43.90.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The land where their fathers had bled, the home of chivalry and of knightly deeds, the country of gallant men, of courtly women, of princely buildings, of the wise, the polished and the sainted.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

How would Lausanne do, my dear Watson—first-class tickets and all expenses paid on a princely scale?

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)