English Etymology From grey + -ly. Adverb greyly (comparative more greyly, superlative most greyly) In a grey way; in partial light. 1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 198:The interior of the kitchen we now saw grayly for the first time. With a dreary or gloomy countenance. 1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 292:I got a compartment to myself, and sat with folded arms, looking grayly at the sunlit devastation that flowed past the windowsWikiwand - on Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.