Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

saintly

/ˈseɪntli/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.69 in modern English

Syllables: saint-ly
IPA: /ˈseɪntli/

10

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

2

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Like or characteristic of a saint; befitting a holy person; saintlike.

Example Sentences

"Sophie led a saintly life."
"Since my sother is nothing short of saintly, she fetches me daily from work and transports me here and there."
"She met more than a quarter of all the American presidents who have ever lived, five popes, hundreds of national leaders, from the saintly, such as Nelson Mandela, to the tyrannical, including Robert Mugabe and Nicolae Ceausescu[…]"

Etymology

From Middle English *saintli (suggested by seyntly (adverb)), equivalent to saint + -ly. Compare saintlike.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: *saintli
Suffix: saint

Inflected Forms

saintlier (comparative) saintliest (superlative)

Derived Forms

saintlihood saintlily saintliness supersaintly unsaintly

Synonyms

holy pious saintlike angelic angelical beatific sainted

Rhymes With

faintly quaintly

Questions

How do you pronounce saintly?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈseɪntli/.
What does saintly mean?: Like or characteristic of a saint; befitting a holy person; saintlike.
Where does saintly come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce saintly

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