archly

adverb

arch·​ly ˈärch-lē How to pronounce archly (audio)
1
: in an arch manner
2
: extremely
archly conservative

Examples of archly in a Sentence

an archly competitive young executive
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
In other contexts, Cooper and Carlson might have decried such an approach—an archly postmodern attitude in which all facts are relative, all orthodoxies suspect. Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 5 Sep. 2024 The gentrifying Reagan years that followed gave rise to archly analytic work addressing institutional power. Nancy Princenthal, New York Times, 16 May 2024 That’s essentially what happened when a Northern California man died in early December — a demise that his brother archly and elegantly recounted in an obituary published in The Times. James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, 23 Dec. 2023 The antebellum garb is an unmistakable Walker signature, but the scene is expressive and foreboding — not the archly comic and subversive work for which the artist is best known. Kriston Capps, Washington Post, 4 Oct. 2023 See all Example Sentences for archly 

Word History

First Known Use

1712, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of archly was in 1712

Dictionary Entries Near archly

Cite this Entry

“Archly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/archly. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024.

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