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# gaily

adverb (gaily; more gaily, most gaily)

«gaily» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. In a happy, cheerful, lively way: «The children sang gaily.» [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gaily/#m1)
2. Brightly and colourfully: «gaily painted boats». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gaily/#m2)
3. Carelessly, without thinking about the trouble it causes: «He gaily spent all the money.» [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gaily/#m3)

### In the lessons

A common word in older stories, songs and The Wind in the Willows, where the Water Rat's boat and Toad's caravan are «gaily painted» and animals chat gaily. It shows a light, happy mood or bright colours.

### Examples

- The children danced gaily round the maypole. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gaily/#x1)
- The canary-coloured caravan was gaily painted. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gaily/#x2)
- Flags fluttered gaily in the wind. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gaily/#x3)
- Toad sang gaily as he drove off. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gaily/#x4)
- She waved gaily from the train. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gaily/#x5)
- He gaily promised things he could not do. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gaily/#x6)
- The singer gaily mounted the ancient stage, and sang. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gaily/#x7)

### Note

From «gay» in its older sense «happy, bright». The spelling is gaily, not «gayly». Today «gay» mostly means attracted to people of the same sex, but «gaily» keeps the old cheerful meaning.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «gaily» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gaily/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«gaily» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/gaily.html) on Mova free.