Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Causing or tending to cause death: synonym: fatal.
  • adjective Suggestive of death.
  • adjective Aiming or wanting to kill; implacable.
  • adjective Destructive in effect.
  • adjective Tending to take away vitality, effectiveness, or force.
  • adjective Absolute; utter.
  • adjective Extreme or terrible.
  • adjective Extremely accurate; unerring.
  • adjective Dull, tedious, and boring.
  • adverb So as to suggest death.
  • adverb To an extreme.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Mortal; liable to death; being in danger of death.
  • Occasioning or capable of causing death, physical or spiritual; mortal; fatal; destructive: as, a deadly blow or wound.
  • Mortal; implacable; aiming or tending to kill or destroy: as, a deadly enemy; deadly malice; a deadly feud.
  • Adapted for producing death or great bodily injury: as, a deadly weapon; a deadly drug.
  • Dead.
  • Very great; excessive.
  • Mortally.
  • Implacably; destructively.
  • In a manner resembling death; deathly: as, deadly pale or wan.
  • Extremely; excessively.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adverb In a manner resembling, or as if produced by, death; deathly.
  • adverb In a manner to occasion death; mortally.
  • adverb In an implacable manner; destructively.
  • adverb obsolete Extremely.
  • adjective Capable of causing death; mortal; fatal; destructive; certain or likely to cause death.
  • adjective Aiming or willing to destroy; implacable; desperately hostile; flagitious.
  • adjective obsolete Subject to death; mortal.
  • adjective (Bot.) a poisonous plant; belladonna. See under Nightshade.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective obsolete Subject to death; mortal.
  • adjective Causing death; lethal.
  • adjective by extension Very accurate (of aiming with a bow, firearm, etc.).
  • adjective informal Very boring.
  • adjective informal Excellent, awesome, cool.
  • adverb obsolete Fatally, mortally.
  • adverb In a way which suggests death.
  • adverb Extremely.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective of an instrument of certain death
  • adverb (used as intensives) extremely
  • adjective involving loss of divine grace or spiritual death
  • adverb as if dead
  • adjective extremely poisonous or injurious; producing venom
  • adjective exceedingly harmful
  • adjective (of a disease) having a rapid course and violent effect
  • adjective causing or capable of causing death

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English dēadlīċ (adj.), dēadlīċe (adv.), corresponding to dead +‎ -ly. Cognate with Dutch dodelijk, German tödlich.

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Examples

  • If it was not such a deadly climate, you would find much to interest you in these parts; but it is _very deadly_.

    The Romance of Isabel Lady Burton Volume II W. H. Wilkins 1882

  • As she watched him reading, his face pale, his expression deadly serious, as he seemed to be fiercely concentrating, she guessed that he was going over those parts of the letter that seemed to suggest she was needed by her mother in Enniscorthy.

    Brooklyn Colm Tóibín 2009

  • As she watched him reading, his face pale, his expression deadly serious, as he seemed to be fiercely concentrating, she guessed that he was going over those parts of the letter that seemed to suggest she was needed by her mother in Enniscorthy.

    Brooklyn Colm Tóibín 2009

  • As she watched him reading, his face pale, his expression deadly serious, as he seemed to be fiercely concentrating, she guessed that he was going over those parts of the letter that seemed to suggest she was needed by her mother in Enniscorthy.

    Brooklyn Colm Tóibín 2009

  • Quentin Forbes was slowly returning his pen to his pocket, his eyes following Wolmar, his expression deadly.

    A Different Light Mariah Stewart 2010

  • You see, Thelma Lou, this is what we call the deadly game (INAUDIBLE) apes.

    CNN Transcript Mar 5, 2006 2006

  • You see, Thelma Lou, this is what we call the deadly game (INAUDIBLE) apes.

    CNN Transcript Mar 1, 2006 2006

  • BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: A scathing report details what it calls deadly deficiencies at Children's Hospital in Boston.

    CNN Transcript Sep 22, 2003 2003

  • The Pentagon says that most of the battle deaths they've suffered now are from what they call deadly deceptions, in which fanatical Iraqi fighters are posing either as civilians or pretending to surrender.

    CNN Transcript Mar 24, 2003 2003

  • The United States led the world now to agreeing to phase out what we call the deadly dozen, the 12 worst chemicals that wash off the land into the sea and kill fish.

    Press Briefing By Mike Mccurry And Dan Tarullo ITY National Archives 1997

Comments

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  • Or something good in Dublin

    December 12, 2007