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Homely vs Bland - What's the difference?

homely | bland |

As an adjective homely

is (dated) lacking in beauty or elegance, plain in appearance, physically unattractive.

As a proper noun bland is

.

homely

English

Alternative forms

* (l) (Scotland)

Adjective

(en-adj)
  • (dated) Lacking in beauty or elegance, plain in appearance, physically unattractive.
  • There is none so homely but loves a looking-glass.
  • * 1958 , , Lolita , Chapter 15
  • You see, she'' sees herself as a starlet; ''I see her as a sturdy, healthy but decidedly homely kid.
  • (archaic) Characteristic of or belonging to home; domestic.
  • On intimate or friendly terms with (someone); familiar; at home (with a person); intimate.
  • * 1563 , , Chapter on William Thorpe
  • With all these men I was right homely , and communed with them long and oft.
  • Domestic; tame.
  • Personal; private.
  • Friendly; kind; gracious; cordial.
  • (archaic) Simple; plain; familiar; unelaborate; unadorned.
  • * 1731 , , Strephon and Chloe, Lines 211-212
  • Now Strephon daily entertains / His Chloe in the homeliest strains.
  • * 2001 , Sydney I. Landau, Dictionaries: The Art and Craft of Lexicography , Cambridge University Press (ISBN 0-521-78512-X), page 167,
  • There is no simple way to define precisely a complex arrangement of parts, however homely the object may appear to be.

    Antonyms

    * comely

    bland

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) blanden, blonden, from (etyl) .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To mix; blend; mingle.
  • To connect; associate.
  • Etymology 2

    From (etyl) bland, from (etyl) bland, .

    Alternative forms

    * (Scotland)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Mixture; union.
  • An agreeable summer beverage prepared from the whey of churned milk, common among the inhabitants of the Shetland Islands.
  • Derived terms
    *

    Etymology 3

    Ultimately from (etyl) .

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Mild; soft, gentle, balmy; smooth in manner; suave.
  • *1818 , (John Keats), Sonnet :
  • *:Where didst thou find, young Bard, thy sounding lyre? / Where the bland accent, and the tender tone?
  • *
  • *:“A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron;. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland , invariably affable, and from time to time squinting sideways, as usual, in the ever-renewed expectation that he might catch a glimpse of his stiff, retroussé moustache.
  • Having a soothing effect; not irritating or stimulating.
  • :
  • Lacking in taste, flavor, or vigor.
  • :
  • References

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