How to Use rightly in a Sentence

rightly

adverb
  • He points out, quite rightly, that there are flaws in the theory.
  • She is proud of her children, and rightly so.
  • People are rightly upset about the city's rising crime rate.
  • She rightly anticipated a decline in the value of the stock.
  • Quite rightly, the police commissioner is being blamed for the city's rising crime rate.
  • She rightly admires his paintings.
  • Many people, rightly or wrongly, believe the economy will soon improve.
  • If I remember rightly, today is his birthday.
  • That’s been cut from the menu, rightly.
    — Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 29 Jan. 2026
  • Clara adores them, and rightly so.
    — Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 22 Oct. 2025
  • The decade rightly gets its own section in the book.
    — David G. Allan Feb 15, CNN Money, 15 Feb. 2026
  • Because this is how they are trained to think, and rightly so.
    — Hanna Rosin, The Atlantic, 26 Feb. 2026
  • There were two stretches where our fans booed, and rightly so.
    — Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 16 Nov. 2024
  • And, quite rightly, she was treated as an adult on set as well.
    — Baz Bamigboye, Deadline, 14 Oct. 2024
  • There’s a lot of club support around them now, and rightly so.
    — Andy Mitten, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2025
  • Which evoke rightly very, very strong emotions and fears and anger and tears.
    — Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 4 Feb. 2024
  • Both guys got ejected, rightly so.
    — Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 9 Aug. 2025
  • Quite rightly so, in my opinion.
    — Dennis Braatz, Condé Nast Traveler, 11 May 2026
  • Also, as Kreuz rightly asks, how many words?
    — Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 22 Mar. 2026
  • Right after Jere has, quite rightly, punched him in the face.
    — Kathleen Walsh, Vulture, 27 Aug. 2025
  • Most are cautious — rightly so.
    — Gwera Kiwana, semafor.com, 22 Sep. 2025
  • Trump rightly canceled that one.
    — The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 13 Aug. 2025
  • Today, it’s rightly judged as one of the greatest films of all time.
    — Kevin Lincoln, Vulture, 20 Jan. 2025
  • Castle was rightly praised all across the board for closing strong.
    — Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 16 Feb. 2025
  • About a year ago, there were rightly questions and concerns all over the group.
    — Brian Wacker, Baltimore Sun, 1 Aug. 2024
  • In the years since, Gervin’s rightly basked in the fruits of his hoops labor.
    — James Jackson, New York Times, 29 Mar. 2026
  • The rift is no doubt bullish for oil in the short term, though markets are rightly cautious.
    — Jinjoo Lee, WSJ, 6 July 2021
  • The members here boast how the sea can be viewed from all 18 holes, and rightly so.
    — Caoimhe O'Neill, New York Times, 31 July 2025
  • A lot of the stuff that would, quite rightly, cause contention, wasn’t Gaz’s fault.
    — Olivia-Anne Cleary, TIME, 10 Jan. 2025
  • So some of that criticism was rightly founded, but a lot of it was not.
    — Alice Park, Time, 21 Aug. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rightly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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