Standard Lemma guide

clerkly

adj · adv · 3 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

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1

adj

Meaning 1

Of clerks; befitting a clerk.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • the clerkly life

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: clerkish, clerky

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Scholarly.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adv

Meaning 3

In a scholarly manner.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

Examples

  • 1783, Thomas Holcroft, Human Happiness: or The Sceptic, London: L. Davis et al., Canto 5, p. 56, But I can prove, by reading Clerkly, From Leibnitz, Malbranche, Bayle, and Berkley, Things far more strange, friend Will, than these;

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From clerk + -ly.