lightly
English
Alternative forms
- lighty (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English lyghtly, liȝtliche, lihtliche, from Old English lēohtlīċe, equivalent to light + -ly.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈlaɪtli/
Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -aɪtli
Adverb
lightly (comparative lightlier or more lightly, superlative lightliest or most lightly)
- In a light manner.
- As a teacher, I don't take rudeness in class lightly.
- 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VIII, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
- Elbows almost touching they leaned at ease, idly reading the almost obliterated lines engraved there. ¶ "I never understood it," she observed, lightly scornful. "What occult meaning has a sun-dial for the spooney? I'm sure I don't want to read riddles in a strange gentleman's optics."
Derived terms
Translations
in a light manner
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References
- “lightly”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “lightly”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.