kindly

Compared meaning: friendly and gentle toward people (adjective).

比较义项：对人友善、和蔼、体贴（形容词）。

• kindly 本词

  More formal and literary than kind; typically describes someone's whole gentle manner, often placed before a noun, rather than praising one particular kind act.

  比kind更正式、更书面化，通常用来形容一个人整体温和友善的性情，且常放在名词前面，而不是用来称赞某一次具体的善举。

  The kindly old librarian always saved a quiet seat for latecomers.

  那位和蔼的老图书管理员总是给迟到的人留一个安静的座位。

• kind

  The everyday, general word for being considerate or generous; used freely as a plain adjective and in phrases like it's kind of you to do something, praising a specific helpful act.

  是日常、最通用的说法，表示体贴或乐于助人；可以直接作形容词使用，也常用于像“it's kind of you to…”这样的句型，用来称赞某一次具体的善举。

  It was so kind of her to lend me her umbrella in the rain.

  她在雨中把伞借给我，真是太善良了。

• benign

  Describes a mild, gentle, non-threatening manner or expression, especially in someone with authority or power; suggests the absence of harm more than active warmth toward others.

  形容一种温和、不具威胁性的态度或神情，尤其用于有权力或权威的人身上；强调“不会伤害人”，而不是主动对别人表示热情。

  Despite his fearsome reputation, the old headmaster turned out to have a surprisingly benign manner.

  尽管名声令人生畏，这位老校长的态度却出人意料地温和平易。

• sympathetic

  Focuses on understanding and emotionally supporting someone who is upset or struggling, reacting to that person's feelings, rather than describing a general kind personality.

  着重于理解并在情感上支持正处于难过或困境中的人，是对对方情绪的回应，而不是形容一个人一贯温和友善的性格。

  The nurse was sympathetic when the child started crying.

  孩子哭起来的时候，护士对他很有同情心。

Kindly, kind, benign and sympathetic all mean friendly or gentle toward people. Kindly and kind show a gentle, helpful nature. Benign means a mild, non-threatening manner, often in a powerful person, not 'harmless tumor' sense. Sympathetic means understanding someone's feelings, not agreeing with an idea.

这四个词都能表示对人友善、体贴，但语气和适用场合不同：kindly和kind强调性情温和、乐于助人，kindly更书面、更偏向描述一个人整体的性情；benign强调态度或神情温和、不具威胁性，常用于有权势的人；sympathetic特指对他人的情绪或困境表示理解和支持。这里不比较sympathetic表示“赞成、支持（某种观点）”的义项，也不比较benign表示肿瘤“良性的”医学义项。