featly

[ feet-lee ]

adverb

1. suitably; appropriately.
2. skillfully; nimbly.
3. neatly; elegantly.

adjective

1. graceful; elegant.

featly

/ ˈfiːtlɪ /

adverb

1. neatly
2. fitly

Derived Forms

• ˈfeatliness, noun

Other Words From

• feat·li·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of featly¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English fetly; feat ², -ly ( def 3 )

Example Sentences

Charlotte, eavesdropping while pretending to read a book — though in actuality staring at a photo of someone named LaFayette C. Baker, whose first name’s letters, she notes, can be arranged to make featly, fettle and latte — listens as Bridget describes her to other girls: “She’s like a parasite, I swear. I feel bad saying it, but it’s true.”

From New York Times

The stone knocked Merlyn’s hat off as clean as a whistle, and the old gentleman chased him featly down the stairs, waving his wand of lignum vitae.

From Literature

Sixty pounds was considered a good weight for the arms used on the pel-quintain—so that, when he did come at length to the usual weapons, he would wield them featly.

From Literature

The point is that conscripted featly to national symbols undermines the quixotic myth of the dispassionate sporting event. 

From Salon

The Fearless slipped through the long swells as swiftly as a water sprite, “footing it featly” on her road to Hawaii, the Paradise of the Pacific.

From Project Gutenberg