gaily

adverb gai·ly \ ˈgā-lē \

variants: or less commonly gayly

Updated on: 16 Apr 2018

Definition of gaily

: in a gay manner : marked by gaiety

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See gaily defined for kids

Examples of gaily in a Sentence

we sat around the table, gaily teasing each other and laughing about the good old days
children gaily running to the buses on the last day of school

Recent Examples of gaily from the Web

These incentives have spawned a meandering armada of live-aboard cabin cruisers, barges, narrowboats, and other gaily painted scows now afloat on Britain’s inland waterways, some just barely.

— dan neil, WSJ, "The Low-Cost Way to Live Abroad: Buy a Boat," 30 Mar. 2018
For good measure, spotlighted and spinning mirror-balls send dots of light gaily skittering around the room.

— christopher knight, latimes.com, "Charlemagne Palestine: Teddy bears to the rescue," 24 Feb. 2018
Here the Carnival maskers don gaily colored costumes and mount horses to ride through the countryside gathering 'donations' of chickens and other ingredients for the gigantic community gumbo-cooking which occurs that night.

— NOLA.com, "Cajun Mardi Gras: Vintage photos from The Times-Picayune," 19 Jan. 2018
The interior of jet was gaily bedecked with Christmas decorations, and flight attendants were adorned with reindeer antlers and twinkling lights.

— brian albrecht, cleveland.com, "United Airlines Fantasy Flight takes kids and families to Santa's home (photos, video)," 24 Dec. 2017
The six girls were all wearing summer dresses, gaily colored.

— Washington Post, "AP Was There: Paratroops with bayonets escort Little Rock 9," 24 Sep. 2017
The rainbow of colors in the carpet tiles from Flor form a gaily irregular pattern.

— elizabeth anne hartman, WSJ, "The Open-Floor-Plan Backlash: How Family Members Are Escaping Each Other," 17 Aug. 2017
The boy liked Dr. Wolffe — as everyone in the family called him — and when the doctor entered the exam room, the child greeted him gaily. ‘‘

— lisa sanders, m.d., New York Times, "Why Couldn’t the Young Boy Walk?," 6 July 2017
More than 40 years after Palo Alto was founded, its 11.5 acres are home to as many as 2,000 people who live in gaily painted houses that fill tidy streets leading to a small plaza, a church and a community center.

— elisabeth malkin, New York Times, "In Palo Alto Co-op, a Microcosm of Modern Mexico City History," 11 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gaily.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.