adv. [f. LUDICROUS + -LY2.] In a ludicrous manner; † sportively, jestingly, humorously (obs.); ridiculously, absurdly.
a. 1678. Marvell, in Life, Wks. 1776, III. 462. You do not mean to treat me ludicrously by these munificent offers.
1742. H. Walpole, Lett. H. Mann (1834), I. xli. 166. It was of a piece with her saying ‘that Swift would have written better if he had never written ludicrously.’
1758. Blackstone, Comm. (1765), I. Introd. i. 14. They will give me leave, however, to suggest, and that not ludicrously, that it might frequently be of use [etc.].
1779–81. Johnson, L. P., Pope. Circumstances were sometimes added, which … produced what Perrault ludicrously called ‘comparisons with a long tail.’
1844. Emerson, Lect., New Eng. Ref., Wks. (Bohn), I. 262. As soon as he leaves the University, as it is ludicrously styled, he shuts those books for the last time.
1899. E. Griffith-Jones, Ascent thro. Christ, i. 3. This calculation was ludicrously inadequate.
