rightly

adverb

right·​ly ˈrīt-lē How to pronounce rightly (audio)
1
: in accordance with right conduct : fairly, justly
2
: in the right or proper manner : properly, fittingly
3
: according to truth or fact : correctly, exactly

Examples of rightly in a Sentence

If I remember rightly, today is his birthday. She rightly anticipated a decline in the value of the stock. He points out, quite rightly, that there are flaws in the theory. Many people, rightly or wrongly, believe the economy will soon improve. She rightly admires his paintings. People are rightly upset about the city's rising crime rate. Quite rightly, the police commissioner is being blamed for the city's rising crime rate. She is proud of her children, and rightly so.
Recent Examples on the Web Released in 2022, the album rightly positions El’Zabar as a musical sage, and the title track serves to give us hope for the future. Shannon J. Effinger, SPIN, 13 Mar. 2024 Organizing athletes still uphill battle The vote last week by the Dartmouth basketball team rightly got a lot of attention as the first group of college athletes to vote to join a union. Chris Isidore, CNN, 11 Mar. 2024 Travelers are rightly infuriated by the situation: a crisis of carry-ons that someone must be responsible for, and for which someone must pay. Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 14 Feb. 2024 Putin seemed eager to convince them that Ukraine rightly belongs to Russia, and that President Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are the ones prolonging the war. Serhiy Morgunov, Washington Post, 11 Feb. 2024 Many distilleries, especially newer ones, rightly believe fancy packaging is ridiculously costly, and what are you meant to do with these elaborate boxes once you're done with the liquid? Joseph V Micallef, Forbes, 2 Mar. 2024 If the law treats them as children, then clinics rightly freak out about all that could happen to them during fertility treatments. Jenny Jarvie, Los Angeles Times, 27 Feb. 2024 Many fans are therefore rightly cautious about their team’s chances of winning a league title for the first time since 2004, but things do look slightly different this season. Ben Church, CNN, 25 Feb. 2024 Yet rightly or wrongly, large swaths of the global South view the war as a testament to American double standards: opposing occupation and appropriation of foreign territory by Russia but not by Israel, valuing the lives and liberties of some victims more than those of others. Hal Brands, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rightly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of rightly was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near rightly

Cite this Entry

“Rightly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rightly. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

rightly

adverb
right·​ly ˈrīt-lē How to pronounce rightly (audio)
1
: in agreement with right conduct
2
: in the right or proper manner
3
: in agreement with truth or fact

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