heavenly
/ˈhɛvənli/adjective, adverb
heavenly is spelled H-E-A-V-E-N-L-Y: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 5.8 times per million words in written English, the 10,196th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, heavenly means “Of or pertaining to Heaven, the eternal celestial abode of God or the gods” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in heavenly?
| Letters | 8: H-E-A-V-E-N-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 5.8 times per million words; the 10,196th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is heavenly?
Heavenly appears 5.8 times per million words in written English, the 10,196th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce heavenly?
- US /ˈhɛvənli/
Heavenly has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-heavenly.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of heavenly
- heavenlier comparative
- more heavenly comparative
- heavenliest superlative
- most heavenly superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does heavenly mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Of or pertaining to Heaven, the eternal celestial abode of God or the gods.
Heavenly Father, I come to You as Your child, kicking and screaming.
- 2
Synonym of celestial: of or pertaining to the heavens, the sky regarded as the realm of the sun, moon, planets, and stars.
The other heavenly bodies are primarily controlled by the attractive force of the Sun.
- 3
Strongly or sublimely good, beautiful, or pleasurable.
Oh, that's absolutely heavenly. Gimme some more.
adverb
- 1
In a manner like that of heaven; by the influence or agency of heaven; divinely, miraculously.
- 2
To a degree such as to elicit great pleasure.
adjective
- 1
Alternative letter-case form of heavenly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Heavenly in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense of or related to the celestial abode of God or the gods:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | céleste |
| German | himmlisch |
| Portuguese | celestial, celeste |
| Spanish | celestial, celeste, empíreo, célico |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does heavenly come from?
From Middle English hevenely, hevenly, from Old English heofonlīċ (“heavenly, celestial, chaste”), equivalent to heaven + -ly. Cognate with Old Saxon himillīk (“heavenly”), Middle Dutch himellec, hemellijc (“heavenly”), Middle High German himmellich (“heavenly”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).