Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

micawberly

/mɪˈkɔbɚli/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: Mi-caw-ber-ly
IPA: /mɪˈkɔbɚli/

22

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

4

Syllables

10

Unique Chars

Meaning

adv

in an upbeat and optimistic way, in the face of seemingly hopeless circumstances

Example Sentences

"[…] not growing a single spiritual inch, for putting forth his powers as a man should; just amiably Micawbering along, and most Micawberly devoted to somebody he would like well enough to marry when the times comes and things "turn up;" […]"
"The marriage of Grand Duke Alexis in his proper station in life is indefinitely postponed, and Count Shouvalod and his imperial master must wait, Micawberly, for something to turn up."
"Covenant doggedly searches for a way out of his predicament and vows to keep moving in the hopes that, macabrely (as opposed to Micawberly) put, something will turn up."

Etymology

From Micawber + -ly (suffix forming adjectives from nouns, having the sense of ‘behaving like, or having a nature typical of [what is denoted by the noun]’) (see origin of name there), from the character Wilkins Micawber – noted for his naive optimism, always confident that “something will turn up” – in David Copperfield (1849–1850) by the English author Charles Dickens (1812–1870).

Word Breakdown

Suffix: Micawber

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /mɪˈkɔbɚli/
British English: /mɪˈkɔːbəli/

Inflected Forms

more Micawberly (comparative) most Micawberly (superlative)

Phrases

Micawber effect Micawber frontier Micawber-like Micawber principle Micawber threshold

Frequently Paired Words

Micawber Micawber effect Micawberesque Micawber frontier Micawberian Micawberish Micawberism Micawber-like

Questions

How do you pronounce micawberly?: The recorded pronunciation is /mɪˈkɔbɚli/.
What does micawberly mean?: in an upbeat and optimistic way, in the face of seemingly hopeless circumstances
Where does micawberly come from?: From Micawber + -ly (suffix forming adjectives from nouns, having the sense of ‘behaving like, or having a nature typical of [what is denoted by the noun]’) (see origin of name there), from the character Wilkins Micawber – noted for his naive optimism, always confident that “something will turn up” – in David Copperfield (1849–1850) by the English author Charles Dickens (1812–1870).

How to pronounce micawberly

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “micawberly”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/mɪˈkɔbɚli/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “micawberly”.
Repeat and practice — Say “micawberly” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.