killingly

See also: Killingly

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English killing

Proto-Indo-European *leyg-der.

Proto-Germanic *līkąder.

Proto-Germanic *-līkaz

Proto-Germanic *-ê

Proto-Germanic *-līkê

Proto-West Germanic *-līkē

Old English -līċe

Middle English -ly

English -ly

English killingly

From killing + -ly.

Adverb

killingly (comparative more killingly, superlative most killingly)

1. So as to kill; fatally.
2. (figuratively) So as to incapacitate with laughter.
   • 1916, William Dean Howells, Between the Dark and the Daylight, page 152:

     I should not be able to say how killingly droll I found this.