GAILY
What does "GAILY" mean?
In a cheerful, lively way; or brightly and colorfully.
Meanings
- In a merry, light-hearted, carefree manner. They danced gaily around the maypole all afternoon. literary
- With bright, vivid color or decoration. The street was gaily decorated with ribbons and lanterns. literary
Did you know?
- The spelling trips people up because 'gay' breaks the usual '-ly' rule: like 'day' becoming 'daily', it drops its 'y' for an 'i', giving 'gaily' rather than 'gayly'.
Word origin
From 'gay' in its older sense of merry or bright (from Old French 'gai', of joyful disposition) plus the adverb suffix '-ly'; spelled 'gaily' because 'gay' changes its 'y' to 'i' before the suffix.
Remember it
Like DAY becomes DAILY, GAY becomes GAILY - the 'y' flips to 'i' before the '-ly'.
A little poem
Ribbons and lanterns strung above the lane-
the old word steps out lightly, and means it again.
couplet
What it teaches
Carefree is not the same as careless: one chooses lightness, the other just drops things.
Quick facts
What does GAILY mean?
In a cheerful, lively way; or brightly and colorfully.
Is GAILY a valid word?
Yes — GAILY is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is GAILY?
GAILY has 5 letters and 2 syllables.
Where does GAILY come from?
From 'gay' in its older sense of merry or bright (from Old French 'gai', of joyful disposition) plus the adverb suffix '-ly'; spelled 'gaily' because 'gay' changes its 'y' to 'i' before the suffix.
What can GAILY teach us?
Carefree is not the same as careless: one chooses lightness, the other just drops things.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.