ruly
ru·ly/ˈɹuːli/adjective
ruly is spelled R-U-L-Y: 4 letters and 2 syllables (ru·ly). It appears about once in every 72 million words in written English, the 269,040th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, ruly means “Neat and orderly” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in ruly?
| Letters | 4: R-U-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: ru·ly |
| In writing | about once in every 72 million words; the 269,040th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is ruly?
Ruly appears about once in every 72 million words in written English, the 269,040th 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 ruly?
- /ˈɹuːli/
Ruly has 2 syllables, split ru·ly in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Mélange_a_trois-ruly.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of ruly
- rulier comparative
- more ruly comparative
- ruliest superlative
- most ruly superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ruly mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
rareNeat and orderly.
- 2
obsoletePitiable; miserable.
adverb
- 1
obsoletePitiably; miserably.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does ruly come from?
Back-formation from unruly, or perhaps a continuation of Middle English rewly, ruly, reuli (“subject to a religious rule, regular”), equivalent to rule + -ly, rule + -y; or perhaps from Old French rulé, reulé, rieulé (“ruled”), past participle of rieuler (“to rule”). More at rule.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).