Rightly

How to spell rightly

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce rightly

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does rightly mean?

1. adverbIn a correct, just, or appropriate manner; with good reason.

Rightly in a sentence

• The customers were rightly annoyed by the sudden price increase.

• As he rightly pointed out, the deadline had already passed.

Where does rightly come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word is built on the native English adjective and noun 'right', which descends from Old English 'riht', meaning 'straight', 'just', or 'correct'. That word has deep Germanic roots and is related to the Latin 'rectus' (straight) and 'regere' (to rule or guide), all reaching back to an ancient root meaning 'to move in a straight line'. The silent 'gh' in 'right' is a spelling fossil: it once represented a throaty consonant sound, like the 'ch' in the Scottish 'loch', that English speakers pronounced in the early medieval period but gradually stopped sounding. The adverb 'rightly' simply adds the ordinary '-ly' ending to that base, and it has meant 'correctly' or 'justly' since Old English times. Because the 'gh' is now wholly silent, the word can feel as though it should be spelled the way it sounds, which is the main trap for writers.

How the word is built

• right (correct, just)
• -ly (adverb suffix)