smartly, adv.
(ˈsmɑːtlɪ)
Also 3–4 smert(e)liche (4 compar. -loker), 4 smartliche, 4–5 smertli, 4–6 smertly, etc.
[f. smart a. + -ly2.]
1. Vigorously, forcibly; sharply (in respect of physical action).
| a 1225 Leg. Kath. 1990 Almihti godd..smit se smertliche herto, þat alle þeos fowr hweoles tohwiðerin to stucchen. 13.. Guy Warw. (A.) 3485 Asaileþ hem smerteliche. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 711 Hem to smyte..smartly I þenk. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 6217 Many of Troye in his defence At that tyme ful smartly stryues. 1616 W. Browne Brit. Past. ii. iii, Thrice had the golden Sun his hote steedes..smartly lasht Out of the baulmy east. 1673 Essex Papers (Camden) I. 146 We went to supper, were very merry, and drank smartly. 1705 Hickeringill Priest-cr ii. viii. 80 Thus the Nurse..Kisses the Wanton..when it ought..to be Smartly Whipt. 1796 Morse Amer. Geogr. I. 761 A breeze..which blows smartly from the land. 1867 F. Francis Angling xiv. (1880) 487 The fish played smartly for a minute. 1883 Huxley Pract. Biol. 8 Pressing smartly with the handle of a mounted needle. |
b. Sharply (in respect of treatment, language, etc.); severely; curtly.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 21496 Me war leuer..þan dempt sua smertli to be. c 1449 Pecock Repr. i. ix. 47 Of this same mater it is quikli and smertli spoken in a litil book therto..maad. a 1661 Fuller Worthies (1662) ii. 165, I admired much that a man of his age, could write, so smartly, so solidly, so significantly. 1695 Ld. Preston Boeth. ii. 84 He answered smartly [L. mordaciter] again, I had indeed believed it, if thou couldst still have held thy Tongue. 1709 Strype Ann. Ref. I. xxxvii. 382 Haddow smartly answered, this was too impudent an hyperbole. Ibid. 390 He treated his adversary now more smartly than he had done before. 1809 N. Pinkney Trav. France 258 Mrs. Younge replied very smartly to some questions of her husband. 1841 Thackeray Gt. Hoggarty Diam. x, I let him one day know pretty smartly, that I was..a considerable shareholder in the Company. |
c. Sharply (in respect of feeling); keenly; also, heavily, largely.
| 1677 in Lauderdale Papers (1885) III. 96 Therfor the fynes to be exacted wold be such as may be smartlie felt by the transgressors. 1800 Asiatic Ann. Reg. 255/2 The air proved here as cold.., and having no shelter from trees, was the more smartly felt. 1884 Manch. Exam. 22 May 5/2 Foreigners will not be allowed to share in this advantage without paying pretty smartly for the privilege. |
2. Promptly, quickly, briskly (and trimly).
| a 1300 Cursor M. 17810 Quen þat þai herd þis word be said, Ful smertli þai þam þider graid. c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 3323 Þarfor þai swippe þurgh purgatory Als a foul þat flyes smertly. c 1400 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton) i. xxxiii. (1859) 37 That bylle whan it was leyd in the balaunce peysed so sore, that smartely that other syde aroos. c 1450 Merlin xx. 324 Thei ronne to armes hastely, and peyned hem harde to be smartly armed and soone. ? a 1550 Freiris Berwik 563 in Dunbar's Poems (1893) 303 Vpoun his feit he stude, And throw the myre full smertly than he ȝude. 1711 Budgell Spect. No. 161 ¶3 A Trip which was given him so smartly that I could scarce discern it. 1833 Reg. & Instr. Cavalry i. 112 Come smartly to the position of ‘Attention’. 1849 Dickens Barn. Rudge xxxv, The horsemen wheeled smartly round. 1872 Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. Apr. 281 They walked smartly past the door. |
3. Cleverly, neatly; wittily.
| 1673 Remarques Humours Town 46 He replied handsomely and smartly. 1680 H. More Apocal. Apoc. 204 And Tertullian himself, briefly and smartly [says] Omnis Spiritus ales est. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1759) II. 115 Smartly put, Betty. 1859 Hawthorne Transformation ii, What old man..could have turned a silly compliment more smartly than that! |
4. Handsomely, elegantly, fashionably.
| 1836 Marryat J. Faithful xxxvi, He expended all his earnings on dressing himself smartly, and making presents to her. 1840 Thackeray Shabby-genteel Story i, Upon this..the two managed to live pretty smartly, and to maintain an honourable reputation. 1891 Leeds Mercury 27 Apr. 4/7 The guests dressed very smartly, and the wedding was a really pretty one. |
| Comb. 1838 Dickens O. Twist xxii, Dressed in a smartly-cut snuff-coloured coat. 1859 Reeve Brittany 236 Two smartly dressed girls came to the door. |