gracelessly
English
Etymology
From Middle English gracelessly; equivalent to graceless + -ly.
Adverb
gracelessly (comparative more gracelessly, superlative most gracelessly)
- In a graceless manner
- 1595, Philip Sidney, An Apologie for Poetrie:
- The French, in his whole language, hath not one word that hath his accent in the last syllable, saving two, called antepenultima; and little more, hath the Spanish, and therefore very gracelessly may they use dactiles.
- 1965, Wole Soyinka, The Interpreters, New York: Africana Publishing, published 1972, Part One, Chapter 8, p. 116:
- Barabbas jumped down the eroded slope towards the water and slipped the last few feet gracelessly on his arse.
- 1968, William Trevor, “The General's Day”, in Collected Stories, Penguin, published 1992, page 30:
- As he finished he heard the footsteps of the woman who daily came to work for him. They were slow, dragging footsteps implying the bulk they gracelessly shifted.
Middle English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈɡraːs(ə)lɛːsliː/, /ˈɡraːs(ə)lɛsliː/
Descendants
- English: gracelessly
References
- “grācelēslī, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-05-14.
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