What does pulpily mean?
Pulpily is an adverb meaning in a pulpy manner, especially with the soft, yielding texture associated with pulp. It can describe food or fruit that has been crushed or reduced to a soft mass, but it may also be used figuratively for a voice or manner of speaking that sounds thick, weak, or indistinct. The word has a strongly descriptive and literary quality and is uncommon in ordinary conversation. Its expressive force comes from the slightly unusual ending and the vivid physical image it evokes: something soft, juicy, or easily compressed. Although the related adjective pulpy is more familiar, pulpily remains a useful precise adverb when the manner of softness or collapse needs emphasis.
adverbIn a manner that is pulpy, soft, juicy, or easily crushed.
- In a pulpy manner; softly or as though reduced to pulp.
"The overripe fruit collapsed pulpily as he pressed it."
"The berries had become so pulpily that they spread across the plate."
"He spoke pulpily, his voice thick with emotion."
Some words describe what is soft; “pulpily” describes the exact way something gives way.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does pulpily come from?
Pulpily was formed in English by adding the adverbial suffix -ly to the adjective pulpy. The adjective pulpy derives from pulp, which comes through Old French pulpe from Latin pulpa, meaning flesh or the soft part of an animal or fruit. Related English forms include pulpous and pulpal, both preserving the same Latin root.
Related word forms
How pulpily is actually used
A relatively uncommon, somewhat literary adverb, usually found in descriptive writing rather than everyday speech.