ireland.localmean.com/deadly
deadly
/ˈdɛdli/DED-lee
Local meaning
Excellent, impressive, exciting, or highly enjoyable.
In positive Irish English, deadly can praise an event, object, performance, idea, or person. The ordinary dangerous meaning still exists, so the noun and tone determine whether the word is approval or warning.
Examples in context
- That new track is deadly.
- We had a deadly night in Galway.
How it is used
The positive sense is informal and often enthusiastic. It is especially common in youth, music, sport, and social conversation.
Enthusiastic, admiring, energetic, or playful.
Music, sport, fashion, nights out, and informal recommendations.
Commonly understood in Ireland; naturalness varies by region, generation, and relationship.
A literal safety context can still make deadly mean lethal or dangerous.
Spelling and scope
Contemporary Irish English, with regional and generational variation.
- Search and reference forms
that's deadlydeadly buzz
LocalMean keeps common search spellings discoverable. Regional, historical, and Irish-language forms remain attached to one canonical meaning page rather than being split into duplicate entries.
Common patterns
- that’s deadly
- a deadly night
- deadly altogether
Read next
All words →Evidence and further reading
These sources support the vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, or cultural context. The entry remains open to correction from Irish speakers, regional communities, and qualified reviewers.
- The Oxford Handbook of Irish EnglishOxford University Press
Comprehensive scholarly overview of English varieties across the island of Ireland, including history, grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, pragmatics, and regional variation.
- The Vocabulary of Irish EnglishOxford Academic
Scholarly chapter on the vocabulary of Irish English and the corpus evidence used to describe it.