shapely
/ˈʃeɪpli/adjective
shapely is spelled S-H-A-P-E-L-Y: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,368th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, shapely means “Having a pleasing shape, pleasant to look at” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in shapely?
| Letters | 7: S-H-A-P-E-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 49,368th 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 shapely?
Shapely appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,368th 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 shapely?
- US /ˈʃeɪpli/
Shapely has 2 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-shapely.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of shapely
- shapelier comparative
- more shapely comparative
- shapeliest superlative
- most shapely superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does shapely mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Having a pleasing shape, pleasant to look at.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Shapely in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense having a pleasing shape:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Portuguese | torneado |
| Spanish | torneado, curvilíneo, exuberante |
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 shapely come from?
From Middle English schaply, schappely (“well-shaped, beautiful, attractive”), perhaps from Old English *ġesċeaplīċ (“according to design, proper, fit”) (suggested by Old English ġesċeaplīċe (“properly, fitting, well”)), equivalent to shape + -ly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).