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Deadly vs Undeadly - What's the difference?

deadly | undeadly |

As adjectives the difference between deadly and undeadly

is that deadly is subject to death; mortal while undeadly is not subject to death; immortal.

As adverbs the difference between deadly and undeadly

is that deadly is fatally, mortally while undeadly is immortally; eternally.

deadly

English

Adjective

(en-adj)
  • (lb) Subject to death; mortal.
  • *:
  • *:And whan he cam to the sacrament of the masse / and had done / anone he called Galahad and sayd to hym come forthe the seruaunt of Ihesu cryst and thou shalt see that thou hast moche desyred to see / & thenne he beganne to tremble ryght hard / whan the dedely flesshe beganne to beholde the spyrytuel thynges
  • *Wyclif Bible, (w) i. 23
  • *:The image of a deadly man.
  • Causing death; lethal.
  • Aiming or willing to destroy; implacable; desperately hostile.
  • :
  • *(William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • *:Thy assailant is quick, skillful, and deadly .
  • (lb) Very accurate (of aiming with a bow, firearm, etc.).
  • *
  • *:But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶, and a 'bead' could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the hedge, little dreaming that the deadly tube was levelled at them.
  • (lb) Very boring.
  • *
  • *:“I don't mean all of your friends—only a small proportion—which, however, connects your circle with that deadly , idle, brainless bunch—the insolent chatterers at the opera, the gorged dowagers, the worn-out, passionless men, the enervated matrons of the summer capital,!”
  • (lb) Excellent, awesome, cool.

    • Derived terms

    * deadly sin

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • (obsolete) Fatally, mortally.
  • *, Folio Society, 2006, p.16:
    • perceiving himselfe deadly wounded by a shot received in his body, being by his men perswaded to come off and retire himselfe from out the throng, answered, he would not now so neere his end, begin to turn his face from his enemie
  • In a way which suggests death.
    • Her face suddenly became deadly white.
  • Extremely.
    • deadly weary — Orrery.
    so deadly cunning a man — Arbuthnot.

    Related terms

    * dead

    undeadly

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) undeedlii, vndeedly, undedlich, from (etyl) .

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Not subject to death; immortal.
  • *1846 , Miles Coverdale, Remains of Myles Coverdale :
    • "The soul also hath her death, namely, when it lacketh and is destitute of the eternal and godly life, which truly and justly is called the life of the soul: but undeadly or immortal is it called, because it never ceaseth to live, how miserable soever the life of it be. [...]"
  • *1852 , Alfred (King of England), The whole works of King Alfred the Great :
    • He aye was and aye shall be, undeadly and everlasting.
  • *1957 , Ray C. Petry, Late Medieval Mysticism :
    • And also a soul in this state is dwelling between the terms of deadly life and undeadly life.
  • *1979 , Frieda Elaine Penninger, William Caxton :
    • But I believe that the undeadly gods have spread and sown the souls within the bodies of mankind to the intent that the men should see and inhabit the countries, [...]
  • *2001 , Lynn Kurland, Stardust of Yesterday :
    • Tempting as it was to hang up on the man and be done with it, that wouldn't do. Who knew what sort of undeadly minions de Piaget was capable of commanding.
  • Unable to be killed, quenched, or terminated; eternal; everlasting.
  • *1993 , William Kaplan, Donald Malcolm McRae, Maxwell Cohen, Law, Policy and International Justice :
    • Much of his subsequent work related to processes for resolving what he once called "undeadly quarrels" in the international arena.
  • Of or pertaining to the undead.
    • Derived terms
    * undeadliness

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • Immortally; eternally.
  • *2009 , Colleen Gleason, As Shadows Fade :
    • [...] and it had been Sebastian's fault that her husband was no longer living undeadly by her side.
  • *2009 , Dakota Cassidy, The Accidental Human :
    • Today, almost eight months since they'd met, and sharing her house for four of those months now, Wanda was more in love with Heath than she ever thought was humanly, er, undeadly possible.

    Etymology 2

    From .

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Not deadly; not causing, producing, or resulting in death; harmless.
  • *1886 , Homer, Homer's Iliad :
    • Ulysses, knowing well The wound undeadly (setting back his foot to form his stand) Thus spake to Socus: "O thou wretch, thy death is in this hand, That stay'st my victory on Troy, and where thy charge was made In doubtful term [...]"
  • *2002 , John Graves, Goodbye to a River: A Narrative :
    • [...] among boulders with my weapons deadly and undeadly .
  • *2004 , Troy Blacklaws, Karoo boy :
    • She does not care if it is a tobaccoroller or molesnake or any undeadly animal.
  • *2012 , Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day :
    • [...] each surrounded by a luminous contour, and hang an instant in space, as time slowed and each permutation of shapes appeared, to begin their gentle, undeadly descent, [...]
    English words prefixed with un-