or·der·ly
ˈȯr-dər-lē 
1
2
: well behaved : peaceful
an orderly crowd
orderly
adverb
plural orderlies
1
: a soldier assigned to perform various services (such as carrying messages) for a superior officer
2
: a hospital attendant who does routine or heavy work (such as cleaning, carrying supplies, or moving patients)
Synonyms
Examples of orderly in a Sentence
Adjective
an orderly arrangement of pictures
She sorted the information into orderly categories.
Outside the theater, an orderly line of people waited to buy tickets.
an orderly crowd of protesters
Please exit the building in an orderly fashion.
Recent Examples on the Web
Danielle MacKey, The New Yorker, 5 Apr. 2024
Emphasizing these components ensured orderly and constant progress toward the goal.
—Kate Vitasek, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
People arrived early Sunday morning at polling stations across the country, forming orderly queues and waiting their turns to cast their ballots, the tranquil scenes in schoolyards and under trees standing in contrast to the drama of the previous month.
—Mady Camara, New York Times, 24 Mar. 2024
It’s seen a gradual, orderly slowdown from the red-hot pace in 2021, when the labor market ascended from pandemic depths, but unemployment remains low and payroll growth is still humming along.
—Bryan Mena, CNN, 24 Mar. 2024
Inside, health and beauty products were displayed on glass shelves in attractive pyramids and orderly rows.
—Paige Williams, The New Yorker, 18 Mar. 2024
Video streamed online on Navalny's YouTube channel showed sizable crowds standing in orderly lines and behind barricades set up by police at the church and cemetery.
—Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY, 1 Mar. 2024
The Russian Federation has a constitutional system that makes provisions for an orderly succession: If Putin dies or is incapacitated in office, his powers will be temporarily assumed by the chairman of the government, a post currently held by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
—Nathan Hodge, CNN, 11 Mar. 2024
Asked about her favorite place in the house, the owner indicates her orderly dressing room.
—Justin Fenner, Robb Report, 3 Mar. 2024
ProPublica, 28 Mar. 2024
The implication that Montessori would make parenting orderly and predictable was always doomed to fail.
—Kate Cray, The Atlantic, 27 Feb. 2024
And the show cuts several sequences from the film, including a sensationalist scene in which Joe, at rock bottom, is committed to a sanitarium, wrapped in a straitjacket and pinned down as orderlies sedate him.
—Thomas Floyd, Washington Post, 26 Jan. 2024
Seeing her mother on the asphalt, my daughter sought help and a nice orderly helped hitch me onto a wheelchair and take me to the emergency waiting room.
—Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times, 23 Jan. 2024
At the hospital, stoner nurses, orderlies, technicians, and other staff would sometimes slip outside for a toke or two, especially when things were quiet.
—Andrew Weil, Harper's Magazine, 13 Dec. 2023
As many as nine lists existed, several of them compiled by Marcel Goldberg, a Jewish inmate forced to work as a camp orderly at Plaszow, and typed up by Mietek Pemper, a Jewish prisoner assigned to be Göth’s secretary.
—Emily Tamkin, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 Dec. 2023
The arrival of the character, who appears to Pat in a dream-like state, finally explains the photo Pat saw as she was being committed in the Season 1 finale — an image of an old asylum orderly who looked a lot like Rosemary.
—Hunter Ingram, Variety, 3 Nov. 2023
Prosecutors in Dinwiddie County, where the hospital is located, initially filed second-degree murder charges against seven sheriff’s deputies and three orderlies working at the hospital, but later dropped all charges against two of those hospital workers.
—Salvador Rizzo, Washington Post, 20 Sep. 2023
Adjective
The moment reflected life under Bukele: a blip of protest puncturing the air of orderly mass satisfaction, then an eerie return of the state’s past repression.
—Danielle MacKey, The New Yorker, 5 Apr. 2024
Emphasizing these components ensured orderly and constant progress toward the goal.
—Kate Vitasek, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
People arrived early Sunday morning at polling stations across the country, forming orderly queues and waiting their turns to cast their ballots, the tranquil scenes in schoolyards and under trees standing in contrast to the drama of the previous month.
—Mady Camara, New York Times, 24 Mar. 2024
It’s seen a gradual, orderly slowdown from the red-hot pace in 2021, when the labor market ascended from pandemic depths, but unemployment remains low and payroll growth is still humming along.
—Bryan Mena, CNN, 24 Mar. 2024
Inside, health and beauty products were displayed on glass shelves in attractive pyramids and orderly rows.
—Paige Williams, The New Yorker, 18 Mar. 2024
Video streamed online on Navalny's YouTube channel showed sizable crowds standing in orderly lines and behind barricades set up by police at the church and cemetery.
—Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY, 1 Mar. 2024
The Russian Federation has a constitutional system that makes provisions for an orderly succession: If Putin dies or is incapacitated in office, his powers will be temporarily assumed by the chairman of the government, a post currently held by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
—Nathan Hodge, CNN, 11 Mar. 2024
Asked about her favorite place in the house, the owner indicates her orderly dressing room.
—Justin Fenner, Robb Report, 3 Mar. 2024
Noun
An inmate orderly administered CPR until emergency medical services arrived.
—ProPublica, 28 Mar. 2024
The implication that Montessori would make parenting orderly and predictable was always doomed to fail.
—Kate Cray, The Atlantic, 27 Feb. 2024
And the show cuts several sequences from the film, including a sensationalist scene in which Joe, at rock bottom, is committed to a sanitarium, wrapped in a straitjacket and pinned down as orderlies sedate him.
—Thomas Floyd, Washington Post, 26 Jan. 2024
Seeing her mother on the asphalt, my daughter sought help and a nice orderly helped hitch me onto a wheelchair and take me to the emergency waiting room.
—Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times, 23 Jan. 2024
At the hospital, stoner nurses, orderlies, technicians, and other staff would sometimes slip outside for a toke or two, especially when things were quiet.
—Andrew Weil, Harper's Magazine, 13 Dec. 2023
As many as nine lists existed, several of them compiled by Marcel Goldberg, a Jewish inmate forced to work as a camp orderly at Plaszow, and typed up by Mietek Pemper, a Jewish prisoner assigned to be Göth’s secretary.
—Emily Tamkin, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 Dec. 2023
The arrival of the character, who appears to Pat in a dream-like state, finally explains the photo Pat saw as she was being committed in the Season 1 finale — an image of an old asylum orderly who looked a lot like Rosemary.
—Hunter Ingram, Variety, 3 Nov. 2023
Prosecutors in Dinwiddie County, where the hospital is located, initially filed second-degree murder charges against seven sheriff’s deputies and three orderlies working at the hospital, but later dropped all charges against two of those hospital workers.
—Salvador Rizzo, Washington Post, 20 Sep. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'orderly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
Adjective
1553, in the meaning defined at sense 1a(1)
Noun
1781, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Dictionary Entries Near orderly
Cite this Entry
“Orderly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/orderly. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
orderly
1 of 2 adjective
or·der·ly
ˈȯrd-ər-lē
1
a
: arranged in some order or pattern
orderly rows of houses
b
: tidy entry 1 sense 1
kept my desk orderly
c
: regulated by law or system
an orderly universe
d
: methodical sense 2
an orderly thinker
2
: well behaved
an orderly crowd
orderliness
noun
orderly
adverb
orderly
2 of 2 noun
plural orderlies
1
: a soldier who carries messages and performs services for an officer
2
: a person who waits on others, cleans, and does general work in a hospital
Medical Definition
orderly
noun
or·der·ly
-lē
plural orderlies
: a hospital attendant who does routine or heavy work (as carrying supplies or moving patients)
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