Standard Lemma guide

boldly

adv · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈbəʊldli/
  • Received-Pronunciation: [ˈbɒʊldli]
  • General-American: /ˈboʊldli/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: B OW1 L D L IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adv

Meaning 1

In a bold manner; with confidence.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • to boldly go where no man has gone before

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adverb

Meaning 2

with boldness, in a bold manner

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • we must tackle these tasks boldly

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English boldely, boldeliche, baldeliche, from Old English bealdlīċe (“boldly, earnestly”), equivalent to bold + -ly.

Across languages

Translations

34 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: дръзко (drǎzko) — in a bold manner
  • Chinese Mandarin: 大膽地 /大胆地 (dàdǎn de) — in a bold manner
  • Dutch: boudweg — in a bold manner
  • Esperanto: aŭdace — in a bold manner
  • Finnish: rohkeasti — in a bold manner
  • Finnish: röyhkeästi — in a bold manner
  • French: hardiment — in a bold manner
  • Galician: audazmente — in a bold manner
  • German: kühn — in a bold manner
  • German: tapfer — in a bold manner
  • Gothic: 𐌱𐌰𐌻𐌸𐌰𐌱𐌰 (balþaba) — in a bold manner
  • Greek: τολμηρά (tolmirá) — in a bold manner
  • Ancient Greek: τολμηρῶς (tolmērôs) — in a bold manner
  • Italian: arditamente — in a bold manner
  • Italian: coraggiosamente — in a bold manner
  • Italian: valentemente — in a bold manner
  • Italian: audacemente — in a bold manner
  • Italian: sfrontatamente — in a bold manner
  • Japanese: 大胆に (daitan ni) — in a bold manner
  • Latin: audaciter — in a bold manner
  • Latin: audacter — in a bold manner
  • Macedonian: смело (smelo) — in a bold manner
  • Macedonian: храбро (hrabro) — in a bold manner
  • Nahuatl: chicauaztica — in a bold manner
  • Old English: bealdlīċe — in a bold manner
  • Polish: śmiało — in a bold manner
  • Polish: odważnie — in a bold manner
  • Portuguese: audazmente — in a bold manner
  • Russian: сме́ло (smélo) — in a bold manner
  • Russian: хра́бро (xrábro) — in a bold manner
  • Russian: отва́жно (otvážno) — in a bold manner
  • Russian: до́блестно (dóblestno) — in a bold manner
  • Spanish: audazmente — in a bold manner
  • Spanish: valientemente — in a bold manner