Can homely be insulting and flattering?

[alphacheese]

I'm curious about this word 'homely.' To me it has a meaning of comfort and protection and to say that a girl had a homely characteristic would be she is caring, loving, and affectionate and would make a good wife and mother. She would make a wonderful, comfortable home. So what's this other meaning of simplicity and plainness? That doesn't seem what homely should mean to me at all

 

[Niels]

I think you mean "homebody"... homely means unattractive.


To clarify: A homebody's focus is home life. Such an individual is likely create a homey environment.

 

[Inkachu]

You might be confusing "homely" with "homey". Homely has always meant unattractive.

 

[ido]

Alphacheese!

I have to agree that homely is usually a term I hear for unattractive or "plain" looking persons.

I'm not sure what word you would use to describe what you said, tho. Lemme know if you figure one out b/c it described me perfectly.

 

[JennyKatz]

Yeah, homely means plain. I've never heard it used in a complimentary sense.
I did just look it up on m-w.com, though. Technically, we're all right. It can mean 1. characteristic or suggestive of the home or 4. plain or unattractive. I rarely hear it used in the first sense, though.

 

[radhead]

It means unattractive, although I've never understood or used the word. I heard my grandmother use it once.

 

[Tinkerbell33]

It means plain, not sure if it means unattractive. I would see it as more of an insult because it suggests that nothing stands out about you.

 

[septemberskies]

It's an insult... no one wants to be homely

 

[trentlogain2]

I guess so. Just as being called, "sir", when you're only 25 years old could either be taken as an insult or a flattering comment as well.

I guess it's all in the eyes of the beholder.

 

[MaedchenM]

I'm curious about this word 'homely.' To me it has a meaning of comfort and protection and to say that a girl had a homely characteristic would be she is caring, loving, and affectionate and would make a good wife and mother. She would make a wonderful, comfortable home. So what's this other meaning of simplicity and plainness? That doesn't seem what homely should mean to me at all

"homely" and "homey" are not the same.

 

[JennyKatz]

This is another example of definition vs. connotation. If you include all four dictionary definitions, it isn't always a negative.
Taken from a dictionary:
1: suggestive or characteristic of a home
2: being something familiar with which one is at home <satisfy themselves with houses, furniture, books and clothes that were worn and homely and friendly to the touch &#8212; Brendan Gill>
3 a: unaffectedly natural : simple b: not elaborate or complex <homely virtues>
4: plain or unattractive in appearance

Technically, it can mean "homey" in the sense of relating to the home. However, today it very rarely gets used in the first two senses and is almost always intended as an unflattering description. Give a while and eventually the first few uses will probably be marked as archaic or be left out altogether.

 

[alphacheese]

I think you mean "homebody"... homely means unattractive.

To clarify: A homebody's focus is home life. Such an individual is likely create a homey environment.

Homebody is the person to which I describe, so why wouldn't homely be the adjective to describe that person?

I looked it up before I posted to clarify for myself and that's what caused the confusion. I've always been confused by the word and never use it but regardless of what webster says using my own understanding I would associate 'homely' as being a characteristic of the home, and the home to me is a loving, caring, comfortable place. I found definitions that both say plain and unattractive and others that say it is a characteristic of the home and familiar and synonymous with cozy and comfortable. Well my characteristic of the home is not plain and unattractive so who came up with that definition?

 

[Tamara224]

Tolkien described Rivendell as "the last homely house" - and that was a compliment. It meant just as the OP has suggested.

I think it would be cool if we could revive the word "homely" to mean something good. I think that originally when applied to people it was something along the lines of "the girl next door." Plain, yes, but not necessarily unattractive.

Still... in modern everyday speech I've never heard it as a compliment. I wouldn't call it an insult, though. If people want to insult someone they'll say she's ugly, not homely. I've always thought of the word as a nice way to say that a person is no beauty queen. IOW, when you don't want to call someone ugly because she's not quasi modo or anything... but she's not really pretty either.

Oh...and I've never heard it used to describe a boy/man.

 

[Luther073082]

Shoot I always thought homely ment something good. I thought it was like a good wife & mother or something like that.

I'm glad I found out what it ment before I used the term.