heavenly

English

Alternative forms

• Heavenly

Etymology

From Middle English hevenely, hevenly, from Old English heofonlīċ (“heavenly, celestial; chaste”); equivalent to heaven +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈhɛvənli/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

heavenly (comparative heavenlier or more heavenly, superlative heavenliest or most heavenly)

1. Of or pertaining to the heaven believed in by many religions.

   Synonyms: celestial, (obsolete) celest, paradisal, paradisaical, paradisaic, paradisic

2. Synonym of celestial: of or pertaining to the heavens, the sky regarded as the realm of the sun, moon, planets, and stars.
3. Of or pertaining to the kingdom of God.

   Synonyms: divine, spiritual

   • 1817, Charles Phillips (author-editor), Speech in the Case of O′Mullan v. M′Korkill, The Speeches of Charles Phillips, page 131,

     No doubt, you have all personally considered — no doubt, you have all personally experienced, that of all the blessings which it has pleased Providence to allow us to cultivate, there is not one which breathes a purer fragrance, or bears an heavenlier aspect than education.

4. (figurative) Strongly or sublimely beautiful or pleasurable.

   Synonyms: beatific, blissful, divine, delightful, heavenlike, wonderful

   Oh, please continue giving me a massage—it's absolutely heavenly.

   • 1880, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], A Tramp Abroad; , Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company; London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     So he flew down and got that acorn, and fetched it up and dropped it in, and was just tilting his head back, with the heavenliest smile on his face, when all of a sudden he was paralyzed into a listening attitude and that smile faded gradually out of his countenance like breath off′n a razor, and the queerest look of surprise took its place.

   • 1987, Gary Clark (lyrics and music), “Mary's Prayer”, performed by Danny Wilson:

     Everything is wonderful / Being here is heavenly

Derived terms

• sleep in heavenly peace

Translations

Adverb

heavenly (comparative more heavenly, superlative most heavenly)

1. In a manner like that of heaven; by the influence or agency of heaven; divinely, miraculously.
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes , book II, London: Val Simmes for Edward Blount , →OCLC:

     by night [she] saw that God in her armes, saying moreover unto her, that the next day, the first man she met withall, should heavenly pay her her wages.

2. To a degree such as to elicit great pleasure.
   • 2003, Ruben Soto, Fiesta for the Hispanic Soul, page 136:

     Then, we taste the refried beans and the rice, and they are so heavenly delicious.

Derived terms