homely

[Bailey]

home·ly (hml)
adj. home·li·er, home·li·est
1. Not attractive or good-looking: a homely child.
2. Lacking elegance or refinement: homely furniture.
3. Of a simple or unpretentious nature; plain: homely truths.
4. Characteristic of the home or of home life: homely skills.



homeli·ness n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.


ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words AntonymsAdj. 1. homely - lacking in physical beauty or proportion; "a homely child"; "several of the buildings were downright homely"; "a plain girl with a freckled face"
plain
unattractive - lacking beauty or charm; "as unattractive as most mining regions"
2. homely - having a feeling of home; cozy and comfortable; "the homely everyday atmosphere"; "a homey little inn"
homelike, homey, homy
comfortable, comfy - providing or experiencing physical well-being or relief (`comfy' is informal); "comfortable clothes"; "comfortable suburban houses"; "made himself comfortable in an armchair"; "the antihistamine made her feel more comfortable"; "are you comfortable?"; "feeling comfy now?"
3. homely - plain and unpretentious; "homely truths"; "letters to his son full of homely advice"; "homely fare"
plain - not elaborate or elaborated; simple; "plain food"; "stuck to the plain facts"; "a plain blue suit"; "a plain rectangular brick building"
4. homely - without artificial refinement or elegance; "plain homely furniture"; "homely manners"
inelegant - lacking in refinement or grace or good taste

I like number 3 here.

hom·i·ly (hm-l)
n. pl. hom·i·lies
1. A sermon, especially one intended to edify a congregation on a practical matter and not intended to be a theological discourse.
2. A tedious moralizing lecture or admonition.
3. An inspirational saying or platitude.



[Middle English omelie, from Old French, from Late Latin homlia, from Greek homli, discourse, from homlos, crowd; see sem-1 in Indo-European roots.]



homi·list n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.


ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words AntonymsNoun 1. homily - a sermon on a moral or religious topic
preachment
preaching, sermon, discourse - an address of a religious nature (usually delivered during a church service)

again number 3.
It was number 3 and 4 of homely I was using for Huny's cute and wise sayings.

mark trying-to-stay-out-of-trouble-here Bailey

[Slava]

As it's nearly 4 years old, the references this post makes to other posts is lost to me. That doesn't stop it from being a good word, though. I don't think I'd ever given thought to the simple idea of simplicity in this one. It's always been just the unattractiveness part that struck me. I'll have to try to remember the "home" part.