Kindly — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

adjective adverb /ˈkīn(d)-lē/ kind·ly

Meaning & Definition of Kindly

Kindly (adjective)

  1. of a sympathetic or generous nature
  2. of an agreeable or beneficial nature, pleasant
  3. natural

Kindly (adverb)

  1. in a kind manner, sympathetically
  2. as a gesture of goodwill, in an appreciative manner
  3. in a gracious manner, courteously

Kindly (adjective) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. having or marked by sympathy and consideration for others

    "brought homemade chicken soup out of kindly concern for my health"

    similar: beneficent, benevolent, benignant, compassionate, good-hearted, humane, kind, kindhearted, softhearted, sympathetic, tender, tenderhearted, warmhearted
    related: attentive, considerate, solicitous, thoughtful, affable, amicable, benign, companionable, comradely, cordial, friendly, genial, gentle, good, good-natured, good-tempered, gracious, mild, neighborly, nice, pleasant, sweet, warm, clement, forbearing, forgiving, lenient, merciful, soft, patient, pitying, tolerant, understanding, altruistic, brotherly, charitable, freehanded, generous, greathearted, humanitarian, liberal, magnanimous, munificent, noble, openhearted, philanthropic, selfless, unselfish, unsparing, anticruelty, cruelty-free
    opposite: atrocious, barbaric, barbarous, bestial, brutal, brute, brutish, callous, cold-blooded, cruel, fiendish, hard-hearted, heartless, inhuman, inhumane, insensate, sadistic, savage, truculent, uncompassionate, unfeeling, unkind, unkindly, unsympathetic, vicious, wanton
    near: ironhearted, merciless, pitiless, ruthless, stonyhearted, inconsiderate, insensitive, thoughtless, uncaring, unthinking, grim, hard-boiled, harsh, heavy-handed, severe, stern, tough, unsentimental, hateful, malevolent, malicious, malign, malignant, mean, nasty, spiteful, virulent, antihumanitarian, uncharitable

  2. promoting or contributing to personal or social well-being

    "a vegetarian diet can be very kindly to a person hoping to lose a few pounds"

    similar: advantageous, benefic, beneficent, beneficial, benignant, favorable, friendly, good, helpful, profitable, salutary
    related: gratifying, rewarding, satisfying, auspicious, promising, propitious, advisable, desirable, healthful, healthy, salubrious, salutiferous, wholesome, gainful, lucrative, remunerative, ameliorative, amelioratory, bettering, constructive, supportive
    opposite: bad, disadvantageous, unfavorable, unfriendly, unhelpful, unprofitable
    near: damaging, deleterious, harmful, injurious, insalubrious

Kindly (adverb) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. with good reason or courtesy

    "would you kindly hand me the scissors?"

    similar: considerately, courteously, graciously, nicely, reasonably, thoughtfully, well
    related: pleasantly, excusably, fairly, justifiably, validly, discreetly, judiciously, prudently, sensibly, wisely, chivalrously, decorously, deferentially, gallantly, politely, respectfully, solicitously, compassionately, humanely, kindheartedly, sweetly, sympathetically
    opposite: discourteously, inconsiderately, thoughtlessly
    near: contemptuously, disdainfully, disrespectfully, impolitely, rudely, scornfully, snootily, cruelly, heartlessly, nastily, viciously, shabbily, unfairly

  2. to some degree or extent

    "their visit was kindly a surprise"

    similar: enough, fairly, kind of, like, moderately, more or less, pretty, quite, rather, relatively, something, somewhat, sort of, a bit, after a sort, a little, a mite, a tad, a touch, of sorts, to a degree
    related: acceptably, decently, passably, tolerably, little, negligibly, nominally, slightly, vaguely, half, halfway, incompletely, part, partially, partly, partway
    near: awfully, beastly, deadly, especially, exceedingly, exceptionally, extremely, frightfully, greatly, heavily, highly, hugely, mightily, mortally, particularly, surpassingly, terribly, very, considerably, extensively, significantly, substantially

Related Entry: Take kindly to (phrase)

Take kindly to is a different word from Kindly. The synonyms below are for take kindly to, not for kindly.

  1. to have a favorable opinion of

    "They didn't take kindly to his rude behavior."

    similar: accept, approve (of), care (for), countenance, favor, OK, subscribe (to), go for, hold with
    related: acclaim, applaud, laud, praise, salute, back (up), concur (in), stand by, support, sustain, uphold, bear, endure, tolerate, assent (to), consent (to), commend, recommend, enjoy, like
    opposite: disapprove (of), discountenance, disfavor, frown (on or upon)
    near: blacklist, censure, condemn, criticize, damn, denounce, deprecate, depreciate, disparage, reprehend, reprobate, dislike, mind, detest, hate, loathe, dissent (from), object (to), oppose

Related Entry: Taken kindly to (phrase)

Taken kindly to is a different word from Kindly. The synonyms below are for taken kindly to, not for kindly.

  1. to have a favorable opinion of

    "They didn't take kindly to his rude behavior."

    similar: accepted, approved (of), cared (for), countenanced, favored, OK'd, subscribed (to), gone for, held with
    related: acclaimed, applauded, lauded, praised, saluted, backed (up), concurred (in), stood by, supported, sustained, upheld, borne, endured, tolerated, assented (to), consented (to), commended, recommended, enjoyed, liked
    opposite: disapproved (of), discountenanced, disfavored, frowned (on or upon)
    near: blacklisted, censured, condemned, criticized, damned, denounced, deprecated, depreciated, disparaged, reprehended, reprobated, disliked, minded, detested, hated, loathed, dissented (from), objected (to), opposed

Related Entry: Took kindly to (phrase)

Took kindly to is a different word from Kindly. The synonyms below are for took kindly to, not for kindly.

  1. to have a favorable opinion of

    "They didn't take kindly to his rude behavior."

    similar: accepted, approved (of), cared (for), countenanced, favored, OK'd, subscribed (to), held with, went for
    related: acclaimed, applauded, lauded, praised, saluted, backed (up), concurred (in), stood by, supported, sustained, upheld, bore, endured, tolerated, assented (to), consented (to), commended, recommended, enjoyed, liked
    opposite: disapproved (of), discountenanced, disfavored, frowned (on or upon)
    near: blacklisted, censured, condemned, criticized, damned, denounced, deprecated, depreciated, disparaged, reprehended, reprobated, disliked, minded, detested, hated, loathed, dissented (from), objected (to), opposed

Related Entry: Takes kindly to (phrase)

Takes kindly to is a different word from Kindly. The synonyms below are for takes kindly to, not for kindly.

  1. to have a favorable opinion of

    "They didn't take kindly to his rude behavior."

    similar: accepts, approves (of), cares (for), countenances, favors, OKs, subscribes (to), goes for, holds with
    related: acclaims, applauds, lauds, praises, salutes, backs (up), concurs (in), stands by, supports, sustains, upholds, bears, endures, tolerates, assents (to), consents (to), commends, recommends, enjoys, likes
    opposite: disapproves (of), discountenances, disfavors, frowns (on or upon)
    near: blacklists, censures, condemns, criticizes, damns, denounces, deprecates, depreciates, disparages, reprehends, reprobates, dislikes, minds, detests, hates, loathes, dissents (from), objects (to), opposes

Related Entry: Taking kindly to (phrase)

Taking kindly to is a different word from Kindly. The synonyms below are for taking kindly to, not for kindly.

  1. to have a favorable opinion of

    "They didn't take kindly to his rude behavior."

    similar: accepting, approving (of), caring (for), countenancing, favoring, OK'ing, subscribing (to), going for, holding with
    related: acclaiming, applauding, lauding, praising, saluting, backing (up), concurring (in), standing by, supporting, sustaining, upholding, bearing, enduring, tolerating, assenting (to), consenting (to), commending, recommending, enjoying, liking
    opposite: disapproving (of), discountenancing, disfavoring, frowning (on or upon)
    near: blacklisting, censuring, condemning, criticizing, damning, denouncing, deprecating, depreciating, disparaging, reprehending, reprobating, disliking, minding, detesting, hating, loathing, dissenting (from), objecting (to), opposing

Synonyms, Thesaurus & Another Word for Kindly

The most common words with a similar meaning to Kindly:

beneficent, benevolent, benignant, compassionate, good-hearted, humane, kind, kindhearted, softhearted, sympathetic, tender, tenderhearted, warmhearted, advantageous, benefic, beneficial, favorable, friendly, good, helpful, profitable, salutary, considerately, courteously, graciously, nicely, reasonably, thoughtfully, well, enough, fairly, kind of, like, moderately, more or less, pretty, quite, rather, relatively, something

Antonyms & Opposite Words for Kindly

Words with the opposite meaning of Kindly:

atrocious, barbaric, barbarous, bestial, brutal, brute, brutish, callous, cold-blooded, cruel, fiendish, hard-hearted, heartless, inhuman, inhumane, insensate, sadistic, savage, truculent, uncompassionate, unfeeling, unkind, unkindly, unsympathetic, vicious, wanton, bad, disadvantageous, unfavorable, unfriendly

Related Words for Kindly

attentive, considerate, solicitous, thoughtful, affable, amicable, benign, companionable, comradely, cordial, genial, gentle, good-natured, good-tempered, gracious, mild, neighborly, nice, pleasant, sweet, warm, clement, forbearing, forgiving, lenient, merciful, soft, patient, pitying, tolerant

Near Antonyms of Kindly

ironhearted, merciless, pitiless, ruthless, stonyhearted, inconsiderate, insensitive, thoughtless, uncaring, unthinking, grim, hard-boiled, harsh, heavy-handed, severe, stern, tough, unsentimental, hateful, malevolent, malicious, malign, malignant, mean, nasty, spiteful, virulent, antihumanitarian, uncharitable, damaging

Word Forms of Kindly

Inflections: kindlier, kindliest

Origin & Etymology of Kindly

Middle English, from Old English cyndelīc, from cynd

First known use: 13th century

Words & Phrases Containing Kindly

take kindly to, look kindly on/upon

Frequently Asked Questions about Kindly

What does "Kindly" mean?

"Kindly" means of a sympathetic or generous nature. As an an adjective and an adverb, it is defined as: of a sympathetic or generous nature. It has 4 distinct senses.

What is another word for "Kindly"?

Other words for "Kindly" include beneficent, benevolent, benignant, compassionate, good-hearted, humane, kind and kindhearted. The best synonym depends on which meaning of "Kindly" you intend.

What are different ways to say "Kindly"?

There are 157 words and phrases with a similar meaning to "Kindly". Common alternatives include beneficent, benevolent, benignant, compassionate, good-hearted, humane, kind, kindhearted, softhearted and sympathetic.

What is the opposite of "Kindly"?

Antonyms of "Kindly" include atrocious, barbaric, barbarous, bestial, brutal, brute, brutish and callous. Near antonyms include ironhearted, merciless, pitiless and ruthless.

How do you use "Kindly" in a sentence?

Examples of "Kindly" in a sentence: "brought homemade chicken soup out of kindly concern for my health"; "a vegetarian diet can be very kindly to a person hoping to lose a few pounds"; "would you kindly hand me the scissors?".

Is "Kindly" a noun, verb, or adjective?

"Kindly" can be used as an adjective and an adverb, depending on the context.

How do you pronounce "Kindly"?

"Kindly" is pronounced /ˈkīn(d)-lē/ and divided into syllables as kind·ly.

What is the origin of the word "Kindly"?

"Kindly" comes from Middle English, from Old English cyndelīc, from cynd. First known use: 13th century.