or·der·ly
ˈȯr-dər-lē 
1
2
: well behaved : peaceful
an orderly crowd
orderly
adverb
plural orderlies
1
: a soldier assigned to perform various services (such as carrying messages) for a superior officer
2
: a hospital attendant who does routine or heavy work (such as cleaning, carrying supplies, or moving patients)
Synonyms
Examples of orderly in a Sentence
Adjective
an orderly arrangement of pictures
She sorted the information into orderly categories.
Outside the theater, an orderly line of people waited to buy tickets.
an orderly crowd of protesters
Please exit the building in an orderly fashion.
Recent Examples on the Web
Michelle Singletary, Washington Post, 17 Apr. 2024
Lucy is new to the surface world, having been raised in the orderly safety of Vault 33, one of dozens of subterranean communities established by citizens who fled underground before the war began.
—Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 10 Apr. 2024
The moment reflected life under Bukele: a blip of protest puncturing the air of orderly mass satisfaction, then an eerie return of the state’s past repression.
—Danielle MacKey, The New Yorker, 5 Apr. 2024
Emphasizing these components ensured orderly and constant progress toward the goal.
—Kate Vitasek, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
People arrived early Sunday morning at polling stations across the country, forming orderly queues and waiting their turns to cast their ballots, the tranquil scenes in schoolyards and under trees standing in contrast to the drama of the previous month.
—Mady Camara, New York Times, 24 Mar. 2024
It’s seen a gradual, orderly slowdown from the red-hot pace in 2021, when the labor market ascended from pandemic depths, but unemployment remains low and payroll growth is still humming along.
—Bryan Mena, CNN, 24 Mar. 2024
Inside, health and beauty products were displayed on glass shelves in attractive pyramids and orderly rows.
—Paige Williams, The New Yorker, 18 Mar. 2024
Video streamed online on Navalny's YouTube channel showed sizable crowds standing in orderly lines and behind barricades set up by police at the church and cemetery.
—Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY, 1 Mar. 2024
Emily Shapiro, ABC News, 11 Apr. 2024
In 1987, the actor appeared as an orderly named Marshall in three episodes of Santa Barbara, which ran for nine seasons from 1984 to 1993.
—Jp Mangalindan, Peoplemag, 8 Apr. 2024
An inmate orderly administered CPR until emergency medical services arrived.
—ProPublica, 28 Mar. 2024
The implication that Montessori would make parenting orderly and predictable was always doomed to fail.
—Kate Cray, The Atlantic, 27 Feb. 2024
And the show cuts several sequences from the film, including a sensationalist scene in which Joe, at rock bottom, is committed to a sanitarium, wrapped in a straitjacket and pinned down as orderlies sedate him.
—Thomas Floyd, Washington Post, 26 Jan. 2024
Seeing her mother on the asphalt, my daughter sought help and a nice orderly helped hitch me onto a wheelchair and take me to the emergency waiting room.
—Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times, 23 Jan. 2024
At the hospital, stoner nurses, orderlies, technicians, and other staff would sometimes slip outside for a toke or two, especially when things were quiet.
—Andrew Weil, Harper's Magazine, 13 Dec. 2023
As many as nine lists existed, several of them compiled by Marcel Goldberg, a Jewish inmate forced to work as a camp orderly at Plaszow, and typed up by Mietek Pemper, a Jewish prisoner assigned to be Göth’s secretary.
—Emily Tamkin, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 Dec. 2023
Adjective
But Big Mama taught me that a good spring cleaning meant an orderly home and life.
—Michelle Singletary, Washington Post, 17 Apr. 2024
Lucy is new to the surface world, having been raised in the orderly safety of Vault 33, one of dozens of subterranean communities established by citizens who fled underground before the war began.
—Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 10 Apr. 2024
The moment reflected life under Bukele: a blip of protest puncturing the air of orderly mass satisfaction, then an eerie return of the state’s past repression.
—Danielle MacKey, The New Yorker, 5 Apr. 2024
Emphasizing these components ensured orderly and constant progress toward the goal.
—Kate Vitasek, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
People arrived early Sunday morning at polling stations across the country, forming orderly queues and waiting their turns to cast their ballots, the tranquil scenes in schoolyards and under trees standing in contrast to the drama of the previous month.
—Mady Camara, New York Times, 24 Mar. 2024
It’s seen a gradual, orderly slowdown from the red-hot pace in 2021, when the labor market ascended from pandemic depths, but unemployment remains low and payroll growth is still humming along.
—Bryan Mena, CNN, 24 Mar. 2024
Inside, health and beauty products were displayed on glass shelves in attractive pyramids and orderly rows.
—Paige Williams, The New Yorker, 18 Mar. 2024
Video streamed online on Navalny's YouTube channel showed sizable crowds standing in orderly lines and behind barricades set up by police at the church and cemetery.
—Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY, 1 Mar. 2024
Noun
His mother, Eunice, worked as an orderly at a psychiatric ward, and his father, Jimmy Lee, worked as a cook and custodian in a private club.
—Emily Shapiro, ABC News, 11 Apr. 2024
In 1987, the actor appeared as an orderly named Marshall in three episodes of Santa Barbara, which ran for nine seasons from 1984 to 1993.
—Jp Mangalindan, Peoplemag, 8 Apr. 2024
An inmate orderly administered CPR until emergency medical services arrived.
—ProPublica, 28 Mar. 2024
The implication that Montessori would make parenting orderly and predictable was always doomed to fail.
—Kate Cray, The Atlantic, 27 Feb. 2024
And the show cuts several sequences from the film, including a sensationalist scene in which Joe, at rock bottom, is committed to a sanitarium, wrapped in a straitjacket and pinned down as orderlies sedate him.
—Thomas Floyd, Washington Post, 26 Jan. 2024
Seeing her mother on the asphalt, my daughter sought help and a nice orderly helped hitch me onto a wheelchair and take me to the emergency waiting room.
—Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times, 23 Jan. 2024
At the hospital, stoner nurses, orderlies, technicians, and other staff would sometimes slip outside for a toke or two, especially when things were quiet.
—Andrew Weil, Harper's Magazine, 13 Dec. 2023
As many as nine lists existed, several of them compiled by Marcel Goldberg, a Jewish inmate forced to work as a camp orderly at Plaszow, and typed up by Mietek Pemper, a Jewish prisoner assigned to be Göth’s secretary.
—Emily Tamkin, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 Dec. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'orderly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near orderly
Cite this Entry
“Orderly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/orderly. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
orderly
1 of 2 adjective
or·der·ly
ˈȯrd-ər-lē
1
a
: arranged in some order or pattern
orderly rows of houses
b
: tidy entry 1 sense 1
kept my desk orderly
c
: regulated by law or system
an orderly universe
d
: methodical sense 2
an orderly thinker
2
: well behaved
an orderly crowd
orderliness
noun
orderly
adverb
orderly
2 of 2 noun
plural orderlies
1
: a soldier who carries messages and performs services for an officer
2
: a person who waits on others, cleans, and does general work in a hospital
Medical Definition
orderly
noun
or·der·ly
-lē
plural orderlies
: a hospital attendant who does routine or heavy work (as carrying supplies or moving patients)
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