Goodly
adj.hopeful, joyfulliterary
What it means
Considerable, attractive, or admirable in amount or quality.
Reach for it when using an old-fashioned word for a pleasingly substantial quantity
The orchard produced a goodly supply of plums.
Choose between these
6- playful
quite a haul
informal speech celebrates a large collection or yield
not when The phrase fits gathered goods and not abstract merit or beauty.
- everyday
sizeable
plain language should mark notable extent
not when Sizeable is descriptive and says nothing about quality.
- warm
there is comfortably enough for the purpose
not when Ample concerns sufficiency, while goodly may simply mean large.
- professional
substantial
amount or importance is measurably significant
not when Substantial is neutral and lacks goodly's approving traditional flavor.
- formal
considerable
the quantity deserves notice without exact measurement
not when Considerable does not itself say the amount is welcome.
- literary
an amount is pleasingly generous or appearance is well proportioned
not when Handsome is idiomatic only with certain nouns and can sound dated.
Said against
3- meager
- paltry
- small
It naturally appears in
3- goodly number
A goodly number of residents attended despite the rain.
- goodly sum
The concert raised a goodly sum for roof repairs.
- goodly supply
A goodly supply of apples remained for the community kitchen.
Where this comes from
Goodly is old-fashioned and sometimes ambiguous between attractive and large. Substantial or ample is usually clearer.
- Wiktionary, English adjective sense: considerable in size or pleasing in appearance opens in a new tab · retrieved 2026-07-26
The definition and the example on this page are written here. The dictionaries above ground which meaning is being described, not the wording.