homely

Meaning

1. Characteristic of, belonging to, or befitting a home; domestic, cozy.
2. Lacking in beauty or elegance, plain in appearance, physically unattractive.
3. On intimate or friendly terms with (someone); familiar; at home (with a person); intimate.
4. Domestic; tame.
5. Personal; private.
6. Friendly; kind; gracious; cordial.
7. Conservative and family-oriented.
8. Simple; plain; familiar; unelaborate; unadorned.

Synonyms

plain

ugly

unattractive

unsightly

cozy

simple

homey

unlovely

homelike

homemade

intimate

mean

homy

modest

everyday

ordinary

cosy

lowly

mere

nasty

repulsive

seamy

shamefaced

shapeless

spare

spoiled

touchable

unadorned

unaffected

unappealing

unceremonious

uncomely

ungainly

ungraceful

unnoticeable

unobtrusive

unoriginal

unostentatious

unpicturesque

unpleasant

unpresentable

unpretending

unpretentious

unsophisticated

unspectacular

unstudied

workaday

Demotic

ugly-looking

poor shape

home-bred

bare-knuckle

bare-knuckled

austere

contubernal

basic

black

chummy

clumsy

comfortable

domestic

evil

familiar

foul

graceless

home

🏠

house

🏠

humble

ill-favored

incurious

in one’s element

Hyphenated as

home‧ly

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈhəʊmli/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: homly

Inherited from Old English: *hāmlīċ

Cognate with Scots: hamely

Cognate with Western Frisian: heimelik

Cognate with Dutch: heimelijk

Cognate with German: heimlich

Cognate with Danish: hemmelig

Cognate with Swedish: hemlig

Cognate with Faroese: heimligur

Cognate with Icelandic: heimlegur

In summary

From Middle English homly, hoomly, hamely (“domestic, familiar, plain, unattractive”), from Old English *hāmlīċ (“of the home, domestic”), from Proto-West Germanic *haimalīk (“of or characteristic of home”), equivalent to home + -ly. Cognate with Scots hamely (“familiar, personal, private”), West Frisian heimelik, Dutch heimelijk (“secret, secretive, clandestine”), German heimlich (“secret, secretive, clandestine, undercover”), Danish hemmelig (“secret”), Swedish hemlig (“secret, concealed, privy, covert”), Faroese heimligur (“homelike, homey”), Icelandic heimlegur (“homely; worldly”).