Synonyms of kindly

kindly 1 of 2

adjective

ˈkīn(d)-lē 

1

as in kind

having or marked by sympathy and consideration for others

brought homemade chicken soup out of kindly concern for my health

Synonyms & Similar Words

• kind
• compassionate
• benevolent
• sympathetic
• thoughtful
• gracious
• gentle
• nice
• humane
• friendly
• generous
• kindhearted
• benignant
• merciful
• sweet
• beneficent
• good
• pleasant
• tender
• warmhearted
• good-hearted
• attentive
• considerate
• patient
• softhearted
• solicitous
• tenderhearted
• warm
• humanitarian
• cordial
• good-natured
• benign
• mild
• pitying
• affable
• genial
• forbearing
• soft
• lenient
• neighborly
• charitable
• magnanimous
• companionable
• amicable
• noble
• forgiving
• comradely
• tolerant
• good-tempered
• munificent
• liberal
• understanding
• unselfish
• altruistic
• selfless
• philanthropic
• brotherly
• unsparing
• clement
• openhearted
• greathearted
• freehanded
• anticruelty
• cruelty-free

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• cruel
• unkind
• callous
• savage
• brutal
• vicious
• unsympathetic
• brute
• heartless
• inhuman
• sadistic
• barbarous
• atrocious
• truculent
• unfeeling
• barbaric
• ruthless
• brutish
• inhumane
• bestial
• unkindly
• fiendish
• merciless
• pitiless
• insensate
• insensitive
• thoughtless
• severe
• stern
• inconsiderate
• harsh
• tough
• uncaring
• unthinking
• hard-hearted
• wanton
• grim
• uncompassionate
• cold-blooded
• mean
• malignant
• malicious
• unsentimental
• hateful
• malevolent
• spiteful
• ironhearted
• virulent
• malign
• nasty
• stonyhearted
• uncharitable
• heavy-handed
• hard-boiled
• antihumanitarian

2

as in helpful

promoting or contributing to personal or social well-being

a vegetarian diet can be very kindly to a person hoping to lose a few pounds

Synonyms & Similar Words

• helpful
• beneficial
• favorable
• good
• friendly
• satisfying
• profitable
• advantageous
• beneficent
• salutary
• benignant
• desirable
• promising
• gratifying
• benefic
• rewarding
• lucrative
• advisable
• supportive
• propitious
• healthy
• auspicious
• wholesome
• constructive
• healthful
• gainful
• salubrious
• remunerative
• salutiferous
• ameliorative
• amelioratory
• bettering

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• bad
• unfriendly
• unfavorable
• unhelpful
• disadvantageous
• unprofitable
• harmful
• injurious
• damaging
• deleterious
• insalubrious

kindly

2 of 2

adverb

1

as in nicely

with good reason or courtesy

would you kindly hand me the scissors?

Synonyms & Similar Words

• nicely
• thoughtfully
• reasonably
• graciously
• politely
• courteously
• considerately
• well
• fairly
• pleasantly
• respectfully
• justifiably
• wisely
• sensibly
• discreetly
• validly
• prudently
• solicitously
• deferentially
• sweetly
• judiciously
• chivalrously
• sympathetically
• gallantly
• compassionately
• excusably
• decorously
• humanely
• kindheartedly

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• rudely
• thoughtlessly
• contemptuously
• scornfully
• disdainfully
• cruelly
• inconsiderately
• disrespectfully
• viciously
• discourteously
• unfairly
• heartlessly
• nastily
• impolitely
• snootily
• shabbily

2

as in pretty

chiefly Southern to some degree or extent

their visit was kindly a surprise

Synonyms & Similar Words

• pretty
• quite
• rather
• enough
• relatively
• fairly
• something
• somewhat
• moderately
• a little
• a mite
• to a degree
• a bit
• sort of
• kind of
• of sorts
• like
• slightly
• after a sort
• a tad
• a touch
• more or less
• decently
• vaguely
• acceptably
• tolerably
• partially
• passably
• partly
• nominally
• little
• negligibly
• incompletely
• halfway
• partway
• part
• half

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• very
• highly
• extremely
• greatly
• heavily
• particularly
• especially
• exceedingly
• exceptionally
• terribly
• awfully
• deadly
• significantly
• substantially
• considerably
• frightfully
• hugely
• extensively
• mortally
• mightily
• surpassingly
• beastly

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of kindly

Adjective

Other kindly ushers, who had directed people to an adjacent section after Section 535 filled up, politely asked everyone to please put their shirts back on before returning to the general stadium population. — Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times, 4 June 2026

Since 1980, her partner had been the kindly, worshipful Dutch actor Robert Wolders, whom Ferrer likens to a gentlemanly doormat. — Hadley Hall Meares, Vanity Fair, 15 May 2026

Adverb

Soon, the focus switches to an ordinary bank manager, Jaswant Singh Khalra (played by pop star Diljit Dosanjh), whose kindly demeanor sets him on a collision course with corrupt and dangerous forces. — Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 20 July 2026

One facet of the idea, mentioned repeatedly in the movie, is that hosts should treat guests kindly because one never knows when a seemingly human visitor might be a god in disguise. — Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 19 July 2026

Phrases Containing kindly

• take kindly to