goodly

"Goodly" is not a word you hear every day, but it has an old-fashioned charm. It does not just mean "good." Most often, it describes something that looks attractive or fine, or something that is fairly large in amount or size. In older writing, a "goodly knight" is a handsome or impressive knight. In other cases, a "goodly sum" means a large amount of money, and a "goodly number" means quite a lot. You are most likely to meet the word in older literature, historical writing, or writing that wants to sound formal and a little old-world.

The word "goodly" is an old or literary adjective with a long history. It usually describes something that is pleasing or attractive to look at, or something that is fairly large, considerable, or generous in amount. The exact shade of meaning depends on the context, but it nearly always suggests more than plain, ordinary "good."

In older texts, "goodly" often points to appearance. A "goodly gentleman" is a handsome or well-formed man, and a "goodly sight" is something fine or pleasing to see. In this sense, the word often adds a touch of dignity or admiration, not just plain beauty.

Just as often, especially in set phrases, "goodly" means a considerable amount. A "goodly sum" is a large sum of money, a "goodly number" is quite a large number, and a "goodly distance" is a fair distance. In these uses, the word suggests that the amount is noticeably large, sometimes even impressively so.

Modern everyday English rarely uses "goodly," so when it appears now, it usually does so for style. Writers may choose it in literature, historical fiction, fantasy, or poetic prose to give a sentence an older, more formal feeling. If you come across "goodly" in your reading, the safest first guess is usually "attractive" or "fairly large," depending on what it describes.