askingly
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English askingli, axingly, equivalent to asking + -ly.
Pronunciation edit
Audio (US) (file)
Adverb edit
askingly (comparative more askingly, superlative most askingly)
- In an asking manner; so as to ask.
- Synonyms: questioningly, requestingly
- 1796, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “To a Young Ass”, in Poems on Various Subjects[1], London: G.G. and J. Robinsons, page 92:
- How askingly It’s footsteps t’ward me bend?
It seems to say, “And have I then one Friend?”
- 1890, William Dean Howells, The Shadow of a Dream[2], New York: Harper, Part 2, Chapter 2, p. 87:
- “I don’t know whether this is something your wife ever knew about or not?” he began askingly.
- 1916, Arthur Adolphus Lindsay, Scientific Man Building Through Thought Force[3], Detroit: A. A. Lindsay Publishing Company, page 12:
- Aspiration is looking askingly; to reach a desirable result one must look askingly toward that which can fulfill.
- 1983, Joyce Johnson, chapter 9, in Minor Characters[4], New York: Pocket Books, published 1984, page 150:
- “That can’t possibly be true,” I say. But he looks at me so sadly, askingly, across his desk—