Deadly

/ˈdɛdli/ · adjective

Meaning

(obsolete, rare) Subject to death; mortal..

Definitions by Sense

1. (obsolete, rare) Subject to death; mortal.
2. Causing death; lethal.
3. Aiming or willing to destroy; implacable; desperately hostile.
4. Very accurate (of aiming with a bow, firearm, etc.).
5. (informal) Very boring.
6. (informal, Australian Aboriginal, Ireland, Newfoundland) Excellent, awesome, cool.
7. (obsolete) Fatally, mortally.
8. In a way which suggests death.

Example Sentences

[…]he ſuffred hym ſelfe to be made mortall and dedly, that innocent & gyltles in hym ſelfe: he myght be ſlayne & deye for the gylty man.

❧ That when the iournay / of this dedly life / My ſely ghoſte / hath finiſhed and thence[…]

And next we find / Ourselves in Heaven. Even man's deadly life / Can be there, by God's leave.

But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶[…]The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window[…], and a 'bead' could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the hedge, little dreaming that the deadly tube was levelled at them.

[…] others search for new and deadlier gases, or for soluble poisons capable of being produced in such quantities as to destroy the vegetation of whole continents […]

The killing of more than 90 journalists in Iraq in 43 months after the invasion was to mark it out as one of the deadliest conflicts to cover.

deadly enemies

[…]diſmount thy tucke, be yare in thy preparation, for thy aſſaylant is quick, skilfull and deadly.

Synonyms for deadly

Antonyms for deadly

Related Words

Word Forms

• deadlier
• more deadly
• deadliest
• most deadly

Usage Notes

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