meaningly
advUK /ˈmiːnɪŋli/
Etymology From Middle English meningli, menyngli, equivalent to meaning + -ly.
1
With an implied meaning; with significance; meaningfully.
- Fascinated, she stood shaken ungovernably by its horrible suggestiveness, while above and about her the trees shivered meaningly.1907, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 286:
- Ada opened the album at one of its maroon markers meaningly inserted here and there, glanced once, reclicked the clasp, handed the grinning blackmailer a thousand-dollar note that she happened to have in her bag, summoned Bouteillan and told him to throw Kim out.1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin, published 2011, page 309:
- Related terms
- well-meaningly