The Collaborative International Dictionary
Stately \State"ly\, a. [Compar. Statelier
(st[=a]t"l[i^]*[~e]r); superl. Stateliest.]
Evincing state or dignity; lofty; majestic; grand; as,
stately manners; a stately gait. ``The stately homes of
England!''
--Mrs. Hemans. ``Filled with stately temples.''
--Prescott.
Here is a silly stately style indeed!
--Shak.
Syn: Lofty; dignified; majestic; grand; august; magnificent.
Wiktionary
a. (en-superlative of: stately)
WordNet
adj. impressive in appearance; "a baronial mansion"; "an imposing residence"; "a noble tree"; "severe-looking policemen sat astride noble horses"; "stately columns" [syn: baronial, imposing, noble]
of size and dignity suggestive of a statue [syn: statuesque]
refined or imposing in manner or appearance; befitting a royal court; "a courtly gentleman" [syn: courtly, elegant, formal]
[also: stateliest, statelier]
See stately
Usage examples of "stateliest".
Two hours later we reached the foot of a tall isolated mountain, which is crowned by the crumbling castle of Banias, the stateliest ruin of that kind on earth, no doubt.
Renowned Jerusalem itself, the stateliest name in history, has lost all its ancient grandeur, and is become a pauper village.
They had pack-mules along, and had brought everything I needed—tools, pump, lead pipe, Greek fire, sheaves of big rockets, roman candles, colored fire sprays, electric apparatus, and a lot of sundries—everything necessary for the stateliest kind of a miracle.
At our best and stateliest we are not suns, as we pretended, and teach, and believe, but only candles.
It is the very way Professor Osborn and I built the colossal skeleton brontosaur that stands fifty seven feet long and sixteen feet high in the Natural History Museum, the awe and admiration of all the world, the stateliest skeleton that exists on the planet.