halfheartedly

See also: half-heartedly

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From halfhearted +‎ -ly.

Adverb

halfheartedly (comparative more halfheartedly, superlative most halfheartedly)

  1. With little enthusiasm or interest.
    Antonyms: wholeheartedly, enthusiastically
    Coordinate terms: unconvincedly; apathetically, indifferently, uninterestedly; mindlessly, thoughtlessly, rotely
    Near-synonyms: unenthusiastically, lukewarmly
    • 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:
      This appeal seemed to produce some effect, for two of the fellows began to look here and there among the lumber, but half-heartedly, I thought, and with half an eye to their own danger all the time, while the rest stood irresolute on the road.
    • 1901 [1878], Leo Tolstoy, translated by Constance Garnett, Anna Karenina[1]:
      “Oh, but I feel, and particularly just now—it’s your fault,” he said, pressing her hand—“that all that doesn’t count. I do it in a way halfheartedly. If I could care for all that as I care for you!... Instead of that, I do it in these days like a task that is set me.”

Translations

See also