ruly

Meaning

Adj

Neat and orderly.

Adv

Pitiably; miserably.

Synonyms

clean

clean-cut

cleanly

cool

🆒

cut

kempt

natty

neat

nifty

presentable

smart

straight

tidy

trim

trimmed

uncluttered

unlittered

Hyphenated as

ru‧ly

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈɹuːli/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: rewly

In summary

Back-formation from unruly, or perhaps a continuation of Middle English rewly, ruly, reuli (“subject to a religious rule, regular”), equivalent to rule + -ly, rule + -y; or perhaps from Old French rulé, reulé, rieulé (“ruled”), past participle of rieuler (“to rule”). More at rule.