sedulously

sedulously (comparative more sedulously, superlative most sedulously)

more sedulously (comparative)
most sedulously (superlative)

When the neighbours saw Mirbel thus sedulously adorning herself, they quickly discovered that she had ceased to think of her father—that she had ceased to mourn for him.

1827, Maria Elizabeth Budden, Nina, An Icelandic Tale, page 15:

We bought some biscuits and chocolate which we ate sedulously as we wandered through the squalid streets where the families of the fishermen lived.

1904–1907 (date written), James Joyce, “An Encounter”, in Dubliners, London: Grant Richards, published June 1914, →OCLC:

That court would sedulously avoid meeting contentious issues and would sit in resplendent dignity aloof from the issues of the day.

1980, William O. Douglas, The Court Years 1939-1972:

Applying constant and enduring effort to a task or course of action; in a sedulous manner.


orthographically

Although it is possible to represent this phonetic distinction orthographically, such representation is not emically realized.

natural languages
natural language#English

(linguistics) Regarding or relating to orthography (the way in which languages, usually natural languages, are written).

stylings that are orthographically valid (acceptable), albeit not preferable

For example, in Mathematics, the SVL includes find and set, which are not as orthographically complex as other entries such as quadrilateral or trigonometric, and furthermore commonly occur outside mathematics.

2018, Clarence Green, James Lambert, “Advancing disciplinary literacy through English for academic purposes: Discipline-specific wordlists, collocations and word families for eight secondary subjects”, in Journal of English for Academic Purposes, volume 35, →DOI, page 109:

(linguistics) According to standardized or formally accepted orthography: using proper spelling, and (more strictly) proper spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and italics.

To represent an internal feature orthographically, dashed lines are used instead of solid ones.

(drafting, engineering, manufacturing) Using an orthographic projection (a way of showing three-dimensional objects in two-dimensional engineering drawings).


hell west and crooked

When he and Bob knocked Steelman′s plans hell west and crooked after that yellow skunk George Doble betrayed me to Brad, the boy lost his boots in the brush.

1921, William MacLeod Raine, Gunsight Pass, page 52:

“ You see, Parson Brown, your stock is all mixed in and scattered hell-west and crooked ways, so you′ll jest have to pick out what′s handy. Is that all right ? ”

1922, Elbert Hubbard, Selected Writings of Elbert Hubbard, page 310:

24 October 1934 — Wednesday
Mustering the plant horses all day. Now we have stopped shooting they are scattering about Hell West and Crooked.

1992, Tom Cole, “Riding the Wildman Plains”, in The Tom Cole Omnibus, Pan Macmillan Australia, published 2003, page 109:

2005, Private Albert Franklin Edwards (Canadian Infantry), Two Years in the Ypres Salient, Henry L. Fox (editor), What the Boys Did Over There: Allied Overseas Stories, page 53,
When it was exploded it blew up the entire town and also blew 61000 Huns “Hell, west and crooked.”

Unfortunately Les arrived by 4WD to check up on our progress, only to find most of us sound asleep in the shade. He gave us a good revving and sent us hell, west and crooked to forage for bush tucker.

2007, Rowhan Marshall, A Walk on the Wild Side, page 45:

They then scattered half a dozen scraggy chooks hell, west and crooked.

2011, R.M. Winn, Bury Me Vertical, unnumbered page:

(US, Australia) All over the place; every which way.


stentoriously

en-adv

stentoriously (comparative more stentoriously, superlative most stentoriously)

more stentoriously (comparative)
most stentoriously (superlative)

Stentoriously the Countess snored in her lair.


insistently

insistently (comparative more insistently, superlative most insistently)

more insistently (comparative)
most insistently (superlative)


lithely

lithely (comparative more lithely, superlative most lithely)

more lithely (comparative)
most lithely (superlative)


loathsomely

loathsomely (comparative more loathsomely, superlative most loathsomely)

more loathsomely (comparative)
most loathsomely (superlative)


lividly

lividly (comparative more lividly, superlative most lividly)

more lividly (comparative)
most lividly (superlative)

He was so enraged that he screamed lividly for fifteen minutes.


listlessly

listlessly (comparative more listlessly, superlative most listlessly)

more listlessly (comparative)
most listlessly (superlative)

The lamb bunted several irresponsive objects - never its dam's udder - baaing listlessly.

1902, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Bush Studies (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 44:

And as a child stares at the bare walls of a narrow hut, so the gods looked all listlessly upon the worlds, saying: “Will no new thing be?”

1906, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], Time and the Gods, London: William Heineman, →OCLC, page 31:

He thrust his head into the aisle. "Boy!" A Chinese in a white coat responded listlessly. "What will you have? Beer?"

1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 521:

Since first tossing its cartoonish, good-time cock-rock to the masses in the early ’00s, The Darkness has always fallen back on this defense: The band is a joke, but hey, it’s a good joke. With Hot Cakes—the group’s third album, and first since reforming last year—the laughter has died. In its place is the sad wheeze of the last surviving party balloon slowly, listlessly deflating.

2012 August 21, Jason Heller, “The Darkness: Hot Cakes (Music Review)”, in The Onion AV Club:

In a listless manner; without energy or enthusiasm.


lovingly

lovingly (comparative more lovingly, superlative most lovingly)

more lovingly (comparative)
most lovingly (superlative)

Over the past 20 years, the station complex - including the main platform buildings, signal box and level crossing gates - has been lovingly restored, with the gates replaced according to original plans.

2022 December 14, Robin Leleux, “A royal occasion as heritage projects honoured: Wolferton”, in RAIL, number 972, page 61:


horribly

horribly (comparative more horribly, superlative most horribly)

more horribly (comparative)
most horribly (superlative)

From Middle English horribly, horribely, horribliche, horriblelyche, equivalent to horrible + -ly.

The beginning art students displayed their horribly executed paintings with hopeful faces.

Then everything went horribly wrong.

The man was horribly nice, yet she still wouldn't marry him.

(degree, often modifying a negative adverb or adjective) To an extreme degree or extent.

Horribly, as he was dying, his eyes reddened.


supposedly

People from other planets have supposedly visited Earth in flying saucers.

According to your testimony, you were supposedly at home watching TV when the murder occurred.

France were supposedly a team in pieces, beaten by Tonga just a week ago and with coach Marc Lievremont publicly berating his players, but so clear-cut was their victory that much of the atmosphere had been sucked from the contest long before the end.

2011, Tom Fordyce, Rugby World Cup 2011: England 12-19 France:

I haven't booked, so I don't have a clue as to whether the service will be busy or not. Supposedly, reservations are compulsory, but I want to find out what would happen if you just turn up.

2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 68:

As a matter of supposition; in the beliefs or according to the claims of some people.

My parents told me I am supposedly in bed by 10 P.M.

(Philippines, informal) Used in place of "supposed to be," often in informal or colloquial speech, as a mispronunciation.


lusciously

lusciously (comparative more lusciously, superlative most lusciously)

more lusciously (comparative)
most lusciously (superlative)


unskillfully

unskillfully (comparative more unskillfully, superlative most unskillfully)

more unskillfully (comparative)
most unskillfully (superlative)


luminously

luminously (comparative more luminously, superlative most luminously)

more luminously (comparative)
most luminously (superlative)

In a luminous manner, brightly, glowingly.


luxuriantly

luxuriantly (comparative more luxuriantly, superlative most luxuriantly)

more luxuriantly (comparative)
most luxuriantly (superlative)

[…] here and there a gray rock cropped out of the ground, and over it the yellow stone-crop and scarlet-leaved crane's-bill grew luxuriantly.

1851, Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, The Moorland Cottage:


glowingly

glowingly (comparative more glowingly, superlative most glowingly)

more glowingly (comparative)
most glowingly (superlative)

The spark hung there glowingly, then suddenly went out.

I lay stretching out, glowingly alive all over, and tossing with burning impatience for the renewal of joys that had sinned but in a sweet excess

1749, [John Cleland], “(Please specify the letter or volume)”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], London: […] [Thomas Parker] for G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], →OCLC:

He praised her glowingly; it was enough to make her blush.


dejectedly

dejectedly (comparative more dejectedly, superlative most dejectedly)

more dejectedly (comparative)
most dejectedly (superlative)

"Don't we behave just as stupidly in our pursuit of happiness - don't we?" Simpson nodded dejectedly.

1936, F.J. Thwaites, chapter XIV, in The Redemption, Sydney: H. John Edwards, published 1940, page 154:

From his disembodied mind Gargravarr watched dejectedly.

1995, Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy: a Trilogy in Five Parts, →ISBN, page 202:

In a dejected manner, in a dispirited way.


lugubriously

lugubriously (comparative more lugubriously, superlative most lugubriously)

more lugubriously (comparative)
most lugubriously (superlative)

He glared malevolently at the shining porcelain, and then shook his head lugubriously.

1946, George Johnston, Skyscrapers in the Mist, page 26:


lukewarmly

lukewarmly (comparative more lukewarmly, superlative most lukewarmly)

more lukewarmly (comparative)
most lukewarmly (superlative)

In a lukewarm manner, tepidly, without enthusiasm.


lingeringly

lingeringly (comparative more lingeringly, superlative most lingeringly)

more lingeringly (comparative)
most lingeringly (superlative)

In a lingering manner, persistently, tending to remain.


loads

(colloquial, chiefly UK) Lots, much, plenty, a great deal.


lubberly

lubberly (comparative more lubberly, superlative most lubberly)

more lubberly (comparative)
most lubberly (superlative)

I'm not ignorant of these matters, having been many years at sea—and seamen, you must know, are curious in knots; I cannot endure to see anything done lubberly.

1839, Matthew Henry Barker, Hamilton King, page 105:


linearly

linearly (comparative more linearly, superlative most linearly)

more linearly (comparative)
most linearly (superlative)

The effect related linearly to the amount of causative agent added.

(dance) Forward or backward, as opposed to laterally or diagonally.


ludicrously

ludicrously (comparative more ludicrously, superlative most ludicrously)

more ludicrously (comparative)
most ludicrously (superlative)


lightheartedly

lightheartedly (comparative more lightheartedly, superlative most lightheartedly)

more lightheartedly (comparative)
most lightheartedly (superlative)

From lighthearted (adjective) (any sense) + -ly (suffix forming adverbs).

affix

In a lighthearted manner, cheerfully, with joy.


logically

en-adv

logically (comparative more logically, superlative most logically)

more logically (comparative)
most logically (superlative)

A world, then, is a state of affairs W of this sort: For every state of affairs p, either W logically implies p or W logically implies the negation of p, and there is no state of affairs q such that W logically implies both q and the negation of q.

1986, Roderick M. Chisholm, “Self-Profile”, in Radu J. Bogdan, editor, Profiles: Roderick M. Chisholm, Springer, page 30:


hugely

From Middle English hugely, hugeliche, equivalent to huge + -ly.

This new movie is hugely inspired from the 1930s cowboy movies.

It became hugely successful.

She turned around, grinning hugely.

But the row highlighted the fall from grace of the ethnically diverse women Sarkozy once promoted but later cast aside, who are now rebelling. The former young sports minister, Rama Yade, outspoken and hugely popular, has not only quit the government: she has left Sarkozy's party.

2011 December 14, Angelique Chrisafis, “Rachida Dati accuses French PM of sexism and elitism”, in Guardian:


audibly

audibly (comparative more audibly, superlative most audibly)

more audibly (comparative)
most audibly (superlative)

The Argentinian remains a danger to his own team, clumsily conceding the penalty which allowed Gómez to put Wigan ahead, and it was clear that City's audibly frustrated fans do not trust him.

2014 March 9, Jacob Steinberg, “Wigan shock Manchester City in FA Cup again to reach semi-finals”, in The Guardian:

In context of possibility of being heard; in an audible manner.


mala fide

Unadapted borrowing from Latin malā fidē (“in bad faith”).

ubor

Having regard to this dictum it is clear to me that the plaintiff cannot rely on negotiorum gestorum to recover damages. The gestor, ie the plaintiff, did not intend to serve the dominus, ie the defendants. The gestor did not act bona fide in the mistaken belief that he was serving the dominus. It was the plaintiff's evidence that in an attempt to preserve its good name and reputation it was decided to accept the cancellation of the agreement. It is thus clear that the gestor, the plaintiff acted mala fide in its own interest. In my view, the plaintiff cannot succeed on this principle of negotiorum gestorum.

2001, Maritime Motors (PTY) LTD v Von Steiger and another, 2001 (2) SA 584 (SE) @ 600


apologetically

en-adv

apologetically (comparative more apologetically, superlative most apologetically)

more apologetically (comparative)
most apologetically (superlative)

“Do I fidget you ?” he asked apologetically, whilst his long bony fingers buried themselves, string, knots, and all, into the capacious pockets of his magnificent tweed ulster.

1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], chapter 1, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:

In an apologetic manner; by way of defense, apology or excuse.


greedily

greedily (comparative more greedily, superlative most greedily)

more greedily (comparative)
most greedily (superlative)

From Middle English gredyly, gredily, from Old English grǣdiglīce, grǣdelīce; equivalent to greedy + -ly.

The two dogs greedily devoured the meat.

I gazed greedily on the gems in the shop window.

There he ordered beer from the adenoidal Chinese manager and drank the afternoon away, greedily swilling bottle after bottle, feeling gradually his adulthood return.

1958, Anthony Burgess, The Enemy in the Blanket (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 344:

In a greedy manner; with keen or ardent desire.


apathetically

apathetically (comparative more apathetically, superlative most apathetically)

more apathetically (comparative)
most apathetically (superlative)


morning, noon and night

They toiled morning, noon and night to sell their idea and make it work.

Constantly; ceaselessly; without stopping.


mezzo forte

(music) Louder then mezzo piano, but softer than forte.


connubially

connubially (comparative more connubially, superlative most connubially)

more connubially (comparative)
most connubially (superlative)

So he decreed, in words succinct,
That all who flirted, leered or winked
(Unless connubially linked),
Should forthwith be beheaded.

1885, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, composer, […] The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu, London: Chappel & Co., […], →OCLC:


avidly

avidly (comparative more avidly, superlative most avidly)

more avidly (comparative)
most avidly (superlative)


aptly

aptly (comparative more aptly, superlative most aptly)

more aptly (comparative)
most aptly (superlative)

an aptly named hotel

My friend, aptly nicknamed “Shorty”, was small but strong.

The border-land where the white and black races meet in common debauch, the aptly-named black-and-tan saloon, has never been debatable ground from a moral stand-point.

1890, Jacob A[ugust] Riis, “The Color Line in New York”, in How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New York, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 156:

In an apt or suitable manner; fittingly; appropriately; suitably


freckly

freckly (comparative more freckly, superlative most freckly)

more freckly (comparative)
most freckly (superlative)


correspondingly

He lived in a huge mansion, with a correspondingly large set of gates to keep out unwanted guests.


negatively

negatively (comparative more negatively, superlative most negatively)

more negatively (comparative)
most negatively (superlative)

How justly then might human law and Philosophy rise up against the righteousnesse of Moses, if this be true which our vulgar Divinity Fathers upon him, yeah upon God himselfe; not silently and only negatively to permit, but in his law to divulge a written and generall priviledge to commit and persist in unlawfull divorces with a high hand, with security and no ill fame […]

1644, John Milton, chapter 3, in The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce, London, page 38:

1722, Daniel Defoe, Moll Flanders, London: J. Cooke, 1765, p. 17,
At last one of them asked me what a Gentlewoman was? that puzzled me much; but however, I explained myself negatively; that it was one that did not go to Service to do Housework […]

Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively, by uniting our affections; the latter negatively, by restraining our vices.

1776, Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 6th edition, Philadelphia, page 5:

Allow me to introduce myself—first, negatively. ¶ No landlord is my friend and brother, no chambermaid loves me, no waiter worships me, no boots admires and envies me.

1859, Charles Dickens, chapter 1, in The Uncommercial Traveller, London: Chapman & Hall, published 1905, page 1:

Having the entire summer off from school negatively affects learning.

1997 June 2, John E. Chubb, “Too much of a good thing”, in Time:

Tynesiders appear to be proud of their accents, according to the findings, but Brummies responded negatively to hearing their vowels on TV and radio, partly because they recognise they are ridiculed for them by some of their compatriots.

2009 May 13, Mark Sweney, James Robinson, “Not all regions like to hear their own accents in ads, survey finds”, in The Guardian:

In a negative manner; so as to be damaging or not positive.

1683, Richard Browne (translator), The Cure of Old Age and Preservation of Youth by Roger Bacon, London: Tho. Flesher, Doubt VII, p. 83,
I answer negatively:

Throttling his joy, Ahab negatively answered this unexpected question […]

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “Chapter 128”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

Twelve States now in the affirmative column at one time or another in the past voted negatively.

1983, Reuters, “Iran rebuffs Iraq on sparing civilians,” New York Times, 27 May, 1983,
Iran responded negatively today to a proposal by Iraq that the two countries agree to stop shelling each other’s towns and villages.

(responding to a question, proposal, vote, etc.) In the negative; with the answer “no.”

responding to a question; proposal; vote; responding to a question; proposal; vote


conformably

conformably (comparative more conformably, superlative most conformably)

more conformably (comparative)
most conformably (superlative)

One, who in our climate, should expect better weather in any week of June than in one of December, would reason justly, and conformably to experience; but it is certain, that he may happen, in the event, to find himself mistaken.

1748, David Hume, “Of Miracles”, in An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding:

[…]the said Rajah, intimidated by these threats, "having consented to acquiesce in any terms which might be proposed"—That an arrangement was accordingly made, and a settlement agreed to; and the said Rajah was about to give up his guns and ammunition, and evacuate his fort of Cutchoura, conformably to the humiliating and oppressive terms which he had been compelled to accept[…]

1806 July 12, “Article of Charge of High Crimes and Misdemeanors Committed by Richard Colley Marquis Wellesley, in His Transactions with Respect to the Rajahs and Zemindars in the Doab; and Particularly in His Transactions with Respect to the Rajah Bugwunt Sing, Zemindar of Sasnee and Bigjeghur, and the Rajah Kakoor Addkeerin, Zemindar of Cutchoura”, in Cobbett's Weekly Political Register, volume 10, number 2, page 62:

Globaltech also urged PCSO to abide by the CA order to “forthwith submit themselves to arbitration conformably with the terms of their written agreement.”

2019 February 14, Edu Punay, “Globaltech: PCSO defied CA on Peryahan games”, in The Philippine Star:

With or in conformity; suitably; agreeably.


literately

literately (comparative more literately, superlative most literately)

more literately (comparative)
most literately (superlative)


agreeably

agreeably (comparative more agreeably, superlative most agreeably)

more agreeably (comparative)
most agreeably (superlative)

/əˈɡɹiːəbli/

From Middle English agreablely, agreably; equivalent to agreeable + -ly.

What a game this was in those early minutes. Germany were also agreeably fluid, with a fine natural width. But they also looked like a champion team short-handed heading back towards their own goal.

2018 June 17, Barney Ronay, “Mexico’s Hirving Lozano stuns world champions Germany for brilliant win”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2019-08-05:

Walter was not a little surprised when he came back in the course of the forenoon, agreeably to his promise, to find Mr Brogley sitting in the back parlour with his hands in his pockets, and his hat hanging up behind the door.

1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC:


sloppily

sloppily (comparative more sloppily, superlative most sloppily)

more sloppily (comparative)
most sloppily (superlative)


interestingly

interestingly (comparative more interestingly, superlative most interestingly)

more interestingly (comparative)
most interestingly (superlative)

Every rail company worth its salt wanted to connect with London. Interestingly, it was largely that way around - provincial entrepreneurs wanting to connect with the capital, rather than London capitalists seeking to spread outwards.

2021 January 13, Christian Wolmar, “Read all about London's Cathedrals of Steam”, in RAIL, issue 922, page 62:


suitably

suitably (comparative more suitably, superlative most suitably)

more suitably (comparative)
most suitably (superlative)

Mr. Campion appeared suitably impressed and she warmed to him. He was very easy to talk to with those long clown lines in his pale face, a natural goon, born rather too early she suspected.

1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 5, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:


breathlessly

breathlessly (comparative more breathlessly, superlative most breathlessly)

more breathlessly (comparative)
most breathlessly (superlative)

The performers crowded breathlessly in the wings.

1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1965, →OCLC, page 176:

`Go on,' Barbie cried breathlessly.

1956 [1880], Johanna Spyri, Heidi, translation of original by Eileen Hall, page 10:

In a breathless manner, usually due to excitement, exertion, etc.


frigging

He thinks he's so frigging talented, but he's crap.

He thinks he can frigging sing.


electrolytically

electrolytically (comparative more electrolytically, superlative most electrolytically)

more electrolytically (comparative)
most electrolytically (superlative)


commodiously

commodiously (comparative more commodiously, superlative most commodiously)

more commodiously (comparative)
most commodiously (superlative)

My other work having now stood still, because of my making these tools, when they were finished I went on, and working every day, as my strength and time allowed, I spent eighteen days entirely in widening and deepening my cave, that it might hold my goods commodiously.

1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC:


wryly

wryly (comparative more wryly, superlative most wryly)

more wryly (comparative)
most wryly (superlative)

The sins of the father, she thought wryly. Well, they had visited Tony, all right—only he didn't know it.

1966, Jacqueline Susann, Valley of the Dolls, Grove Press, published 1997, page 206:

‘The king is displeased with it, but he has to be patient,’ Chapuys wryly commented.

1991, Alison Weir, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Grove Press, published 2000, page 219:

A Ukrainian presidential adviser wrote that Kyiv had nothing to do with the attacks but then wryly compared them to Russia’s past use of proxy forces to fight in Ukraine.

2023 May 22, Andrew Roth, “Anti-Putin militia claims to have overrun Russian border village”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

In a wry or sarcastic manner; ironically.

It was Joe, who had taken the gloves when the wicket-keeper went on to bowl.
Mike grinned, wryly but gratefully.

“Only your Virginie,” she laughed.
“Virginie enough,” he smiled wryly. “No, I don’t want her either.”

1920 November 9, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, Women in Love, New York, N.Y.: Privately printed [by Thomas Seltzer] for subscribers only, →OCLC:


meaninglessly

meaninglessly (comparative more meaninglessly, superlative most meaninglessly)

more meaninglessly (comparative)
most meaninglessly (superlative)


loosely

loosely (comparative more loosely, superlative most loosely)

more loosely (comparative)
most loosely (superlative)

From Middle English lously; equivalent to loose + -ly.

It was an April Fool hoax, of course. 31200 had been rigged up with a single lightweight wooden [name] plate (loosely held on by Blu Tack).

2024 January 10, Chris Gilson, “RAIL's famous five...”, in RAIL, number 1000, page 27:

Insert all the bolts loosely, then tighten them.

It's red, to use the term loosely, sort of brown and sort of orange, let's call it reddish.

a comic loosely based on an Old Norse epic

It is loosely adapted by John Hodge from Irvine Welsh’s novel Porno which imagined them coming together again 10 years on; this of course is 20.

2017 January 19, Peter Bradshaw, “T2 Trainspotting review – choose a sequel that doesn't disappoint”, in the Guardian:

A whale is, loosely, maybe very loosely, a fish.

Used to indicate an imprecise use of words; short for loosely speaking

vagamente

used to indicate an imprecise use of words


informally

informally (comparative more informally, superlative most informally)

more informally (comparative)
most informally (superlative)

In an irregular or informal manner; without the usual forms.


howbeit

Univerbation of how + be + it, literally “however it [may] be”.

univerbation

I will goe waſh : / And when my Face is faire, you ſhall perceiue / Whether I bluſh, or no : howbeit, I thanke you, / I meane to ſtride your Steed, and at all times / To vnder-creſt your good Addition, / To th’ faireneſſe of my power.

c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ix], page 7, column 2:

Howbeit, then when ye knew not God, yee did ſeruice vnto them which by nature are no Gods.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Galatians 4:8:

Our hearts discern wild images of Death,
Shadows and shoals that edge eternity.
Howbeit athwart Death's imminent shade doth soar
One Power

1871, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Through Death to Love, lines 7–10:

This applies not only to trackwork and operational methods, but also to motive power, and it will be recalled that the first steam locomotive to run on rails (howbeit, tramplates) was Trevithick's Penydarren engine of 1804.

1941 June, “Some Early Welsh-Built Engines”, in Railway Magazine, page 246:

(archaic) Be that as it may; nevertheless.


pollutedly

en-adv

pollutedly (comparative more pollutedly, superlative most pollutedly)

more pollutedly (comparative)
most pollutedly (superlative)


plumply

plumply (comparative more plumply, superlative most plumply)

more plumply (comparative)
most plumply (superlative)

Quite plumply, forgot the appointment.

He was plumply pleased by salutes on the street from unknown small boys; his ears were tickled to ruddy ecstasy by hearing himself called "Colonel;" and if he did not attend Sunday School merely to be thus exalted, certainly he thought about it all the way there.

1922, Sinclair Lewis, chapter XVII, in Babbitt, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Company, →OCLC, section PART III, page 219:

Now Billy […] had some of the weaknesses inseparable from essential good-nature; and among these was a reluctance, almost an incapacity of plumply saying no to an abrupt proposition not obviously absurd, on the face of it, nor obviously unfriendly, nor iniquitous.

1888–1891, Herman Melville, “[Billy Budd, Foretopman.] Chapter XII.”, in Billy Budd and Other Stories, London: John Lehmann, published 1951, →OCLC:

She lifted her night-dress over her head and for a moment caught a glimpse of her nakedness in the tarnished looking-glass—plumply rounded thighs and knees, the dimple in her stomach.

1986, William Trevor, “Kathleen's Field”, in The Collected Stories, New York: Viking, published 1992, page 1254:


acquisitively

acquisitively (comparative more acquisitively, superlative most acquisitively)

more acquisitively (comparative)
most acquisitively (superlative)

In an acquisitive manner; for the purpose of acquisition.


videlicet

Borrowed from Latin vidēlicet, which itself is a contraction of vidēre licet, meaning "it is permitted to see".

Videlicet,a Brothell, or ſo forth.

c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:

—[…]My father did speak much of the day he was not speedily to forget, videlicet May Day of 1517, when there was great apprentice rioting against insolent foreigners.

1993, Anthony Burgess, A Dead Man in Deptford, →ISBN:

Namely, to wit, that is to say (used when clarifying or naming the preceding item or topic)


once in a while

I send her a note once in a while to let her know I'm thinking of her.

He used to drop into my chambers once in a while to smoke, and was first-rate company. When I gave a dinner there was generally a cover laid for him.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 2:

even a blind pig can find an acorn once in a while

even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in a while

even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every once in a while


laterally

The trial running tests which were made with the vehicles showed that they ride very steadily laterally, with almost complete absence of oscillation at all speeds.

1950 January, “British Railways Double-Deck Suburban Stock”, in Modern Railways, page 57:


authenticly

authenticly (comparative more authenticly, superlative most authenticly)

more authenticly (comparative)
most authenticly (superlative)


fitly

fitly (comparative more fitly or (rare, literary) fitlier, superlative most fitly or (rare, literary) fitliest)

more fitly (comparative)
fitlier (comparative literary rare)
most fitly (superlative)
fitliest (literary rare superlative)

Meane-while it is a great comfort unto a Christian man, to see our mortall implements, and fading tooles, so fitly sorted to our holy and divine faith[…].

1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

I can compare our rich misers to nothing so fitly as to a whale; a’ plays and tumbles, driving the poor fry before him, and at last devours them all at a mouthful […]

c. 1607–1608, William Shakeſpeare, The Late, And much admired Play, Called Pericles, Prince of Tyre. […], London: Imprinted at London for Henry Goſſon, […], published 1609, →OCLC, [Act II, scene 1]:

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 25:11:

Labour is Life: from the inmost heart of the Worker rises his god-given Force, the sacred celestial Life-essence breathed into him by Almighty God; from his inmost heart awakens him to all nobleness, — to all knowledge, ‘self-knowledge’ and much else, so soon as Work fitly begins.

1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, “chapter XI, Labour”, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book III (The Modern Worker):

This Court has a solemn duty to protect society against the murderous attacks of dangerous men, whether they be old or young, and to show clearly that it will punish fitly such offenders.

1948, Alan Paton, chapter 28, in Cry, the Beloved Country, New York: Scribner, published 1987:


austerely

austerely (comparative more austerely, superlative most austerely)

more austerely (comparative)
most austerely (superlative)

"You'd better hurry," said Hetty austerely.

1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1965, →OCLC, page 10:


airside

All went well for the first twenty minutes – women stepped through the metal detector and she and Alison rubbed down passengers who set it off to make sure they were not carrying items of threat airside and onto aircraft.

2019, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, “Something Inside So Strong”, in Manchester Happened, Oneworld Publications (2020), page 106:

You have to go through security to go airside.

Into the passenger-only area of an airport, beyond security, passport and immigration, and customs controls.


authentically

authentically (comparative more authentically, superlative most authentically)

more authentically (comparative)
most authentically (superlative)


siker

Alternative spelling of sicker (“certainly”)

Alternative spelling of sicker (“securely”)


chemically

chemically (comparative more chemically, superlative most chemically)

more chemically (comparative)
most chemically (superlative)

Using a chemical reaction, process, or operation.

químicament

using a chemical reaction, process or operation

According to the principles of chemistry.


recreationally

recreationally (comparative more recreationally, superlative most recreationally)

more recreationally (comparative)
most recreationally (superlative)

In a recreational manner, for recreation, for fun or entertainment.


meridianally

Along the lines of meridian, longitudinally.


martially

martially (comparative more martially, superlative most martially)

more martially (comparative)
most martially (superlative)


lonesomely

lonesomely (comparative more lonesomely, superlative most lonesomely)

more lonesomely (comparative)
most lonesomely (superlative)

In a lonesome manner, in a way missing companionship.


longingly

longingly (comparative more longingly, superlative most longingly)

more longingly (comparative)
most longingly (superlative)

As she stepped nearer and peered longingly out, she saw something else: she saw, only a little way below the window, the wide, flat tin roof of Miss Polly's sun parlor built over the porte-cochère. The sight filled her with longing. If only, now, she were out there!

1913, Eleanor H. Porter, chapter 7, in Pollyanna, L.C. Page, →OCLC:

So Sebastian fetched in a closed basket, set it down before her, and went out again quickly. 'you had better finish your lessions before opening it,' remarked Miss Rottenmeier firmly, though Clara looked longingly at it.

1956 [1880], Johanna Spyri, Heidi, translation of original by Eileen Hall, page 85:

In a longing manner, with desire, yearningly.


quizzically

quizzically (comparative more quizzically, superlative most quizzically)

more quizzically (comparative)
most quizzically (superlative)

The bogan looked at Gretchen quizzically, wondering if she was having trouble reading the English alphabet.

2010, Michael Jayfox, E. Chas McSween, Intravenus DeMilo, Enron Hubbard, Hunter McKenzie-Smythe, Flash Johnson, Things Bogans Like, Sydney: Hachette, page 157:

In a quizzical manner; as if puzzled or asking a question.


longitudinally

longitudinally (comparative more longitudinally, superlative most longitudinally)

more longitudinally (comparative)
most longitudinally (superlative)

Along lines of longitude, in the direction from pole to pole, meridianally.

(sciences and social sciences) By sampling data over time rather than merely once.

Since then we have had the opportunity to travel in them and were much impressed by the internal styling and comfort of the seating (with the minor exception of the single seats which have been tucked in longitudinally alongside some of the entrance vestibules and which are so cramped that only the slimmest of female figures could be comfortable in them; the space they occupy would have been better utilised to increase standing room).

1960 December, “The Glasgow Suburban Electrification is opened”, in Trains Illustrated, page 715:


lengthwise

Cutting a string bean lengthwise is hard because they are so narrow.

In the long direction of an oblong object.


yearningly

yearningly (comparative more yearningly, superlative most yearningly)

more yearningly (comparative)
most yearningly (superlative)

He was silent a few moments, not looking at her; while her eyes were turned toward him yearningly, in alarm at this sudden change.

1860, George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss, Book 6, Chapter 14:

Yet what was it she had in mind, what did she wish to make of him beyond what she had already made, a patient, punctilious host, mindful that she had originally arrived much as a stranger, arrived not at all deliberately or yearningly invited?—so that one positively had her possible susceptibilities the MORE on one’s conscience.

1904, Henry James, The Golden Bowl, Part 2, Chapter 7:

The old maple stump shot sickly pink switches from her roots, new switches every year. They crept yearningly toward the little square of window.

1944, Emily Carr, “Life Loves Living”, in The House of All Sorts:


lousily

lousily (comparative more lousily, superlative most lousily)

more lousily (comparative)
most lousily (superlative)


adventurously

adventurously (comparative more adventurously, superlative most adventurously)

more adventurously (comparative)
most adventurously (superlative)

In a short time, however, philosophy gave way to humanity, and he zealously and adventurously employed his galley in saving the inhabitants of the various beautiful villas which studded that enchanting coast.

1822, John M'Diarmid, The Scrapbook: A Collection of Amusing and Striking Pieces in Prose and Verse, page 323:

Having lived adventurously, fate placed the pair of them in situations which would secure their unique notch in our imaginations.

2004, Michael Martin, From Crockett to Custer, page 5:


leftward

leftward (comparative more leftward, superlative most leftward)

more leftward (comparative)
most leftward (superlative)

Rightward and leftward rise the rocks.

1801, Robert Southey, “(please specify the page)”, in Thalaba the Destroyer, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: […] [F]or T[homas] N[orton] Longman and O[wen] Rees, […], by Biggs and Cottle, […], →OCLC:


obstreperously

obstreperously (comparative more obstreperously, superlative most obstreperously)

more obstreperously (comparative)
most obstreperously (superlative)

The liquor soon mounted into their heads, as it generally does even with the arrantest topers newly landed from sea, and they began capering about most obstreperously.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Spouter-Inn”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 16:


southbound

The truck raced southbound, then careened into the ditch.


commensurately

commensurately (comparative more commensurately, superlative most commensurately)

more commensurately (comparative)
most commensurately (superlative)

Admiral Kurita has no identification charts for escort carriers, and so, assumes that the distant targets are fleet carriers. Commensurately, by scale, their escorts must either be battleships or cruisers. The Japanese forces therefore continue to load armor-piercing rounds, what will turn out to be a very fortuitous mistake for their targets for as long as it lasts.

2019 February 27, Drachinifel, 12:25 from the start, in The Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those?, archived from the original on 2022-11-03:

In a commensurate manner; so as to be equal or proportionate.


vilely

vilely (comparative more vilely, superlative most vilely)

more vilely (comparative)
most vilely (superlative)

We broke off diplomatic relations with Russia
Ukraine is defending itself and will not give up its freedom, no matter what Moscow thinks[...]
Russia vilely and suicidally attacked our state in the morning
Just like fascist Germany did during the Second World War

2022 February 24, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, 4:58 from the start, in Ukraine Special: Putin's Russia launches full-scale invasion, Channel 4 News:

The chauffeur must, as it seemed to me, have been a novice or else have lost his nerve in this disturbance, for he drove vilely on the way to the station.

1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, “(please specify the page)”, in The Poison Belt […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:


lovably

lovably (comparative more lovably, superlative most lovably)

more lovably (comparative)
most lovably (superlative)


lineally

For copying drawings to a scale differing from the original; e.g., to reduce a drawing, lineally, one fifth: […]

1888, Henry Albert Reed, Topographical Drawing and Sketching, page 9:

[…] I confess it was not without some pleasure that I found my self able to trace the particular Features, by which certain Families are distinguished, up to their Originals. I could plainly discover from whence one Family derives a long Chin […]. Who first brought the Pox into a noble House, which hath lineally descended in scrophulous Tumours to their Posterity.

1726, Jonathan Swift, Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, London: Benjamin Motte, Volume 2, Part 3, Chapter 8, pp. 108-109:

Of the Rev. Mr. Slope’s parentage I am not able to say much. I have heard it asserted that he is lineally descended from that eminent physician who assisted at the birth of Mr. T. Shandy, and that in early years he added an "e" to his name, for the sake of euphony, as other great men have done before him.

1857, Anthony Trollope, chapter 4, in Barchester Towers:

[…] I admired them both made so well, she hard and spirited, editing her words for no one, and he so distinct-looking he might have been lineally direct from Cro-Magnon man—but of course with present-day differences, including the disorders.

1953, Saul Bellow, chapter 11, in The Adventures of Augie March, New York: Viking Press, →OCLC, page 205:


loftily

loftily (comparative more loftily, superlative most loftily)

more loftily (comparative)
most loftily (superlative)

[…] trees, most of them bearing blossom or fruit, rose loftily into the air, and extended their broad leaves like parasols to the sun.

1836, Allan Cunningham, Lord Roldan, page 157:

"I should never dream of calling a kid like you a woman," said Digory loftily.

1955, C[live] S[taples] Lewis, The Magician’s Nephew, London: The Bodley Head, →OCLC:

"Can you play the violin?" asked Rosemary loftily, out of a chumbling refined mouth.

1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 475:


linguistically

linguistically (comparative more linguistically, superlative most linguistically)

more linguistically (comparative)
most linguistically (superlative)

From linguistical + -ly or from linguistic + -ally.


straddle

As a verb, attested since the 1560s. Most likely, an alteration of dialectal striddle. The noun is first attested in the 1610s.


JSYK

(Internet slang) Initialism of just so you know.


stonily

stonily (comparative more stonily, superlative most stonily)

more stonily (comparative)
most stonily (superlative)

It was curious to remark the different mien and bearing of the other Federal prisoners who were taken yesterday […]. Some looked stonily and unconsciously forward […]

1862, “The Southern Confederacy”, in The Times:

All their meagre breasts panted together, the violently dilated nostrils quivered, the eyes stared stonily up-hill.

1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 205:


naïvely

naïvely (comparative more naïvely, superlative most naïvely)

more naïvely (comparative)
most naïvely (superlative)

I do not want to spend long in examining the arguments for this general deprecation of sense-perception or the intellectual motives for denying all credentials to sense-perception in order to enhance those of calculation, demonstration or religious faith. I want to get quickly to the much thornier briar-patch, the place, namely, where scientific accounts of perception seem to issue in the consequential doctrine that observers, including the physiologists and psychologists themselves, never perceive what they naïvely suppose themselves to perceive.

1954, Gilbert Ryle, Dilemmas: The Tarner Lectures, 1953, dilemma vii: Perception, page 94 (The Syndics of the Cambridge University Press)

2005 September: John H. Jenkins, The Dao of Unihan, International & Text Group, Apple Computer, Inc.
Users should not naïvely assume that learning to pronounce an East Asian language is all about learning to pronounce the individual ideographs […]


higgledypiggledy

higgledypiggledy (comparative more higgledypiggledy, superlative most higgledypiggledy)

more higgledypiggledy (comparative)
most higgledypiggledy (superlative)

Alternative spelling of higgledy-piggledy


short-handed

short-handed (comparative more short-handed, superlative most short-handed)

more short-handed (comparative)
most short-handed (superlative)

The present Section, where the vessel sails short-handed, permits the payment of shorthand pay, but there is a clause in that contract which hoists it if the vessel sailing short-handed is due to the misconduct of any crew member.

1953, The Labour Gazette - Volume 53, Issue 10, page 1481:


naively

naively (comparative more naively, superlative most naively)

more naively (comparative)
most naively (superlative)


cosily

cosily (comparative more cosily, superlative most cosily)

more cosily (comparative)
most cosily (superlative)

It's hard to put your hands into the pockets of a suit coat. Mine were tucked away cosily in the deep pockets of my zipped-up leather jacket.

2010, Peter Corris, Torn Apart, Allen and Unwin, page 183:


baht

c. 1850s–70s, On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at (song)

Thear's boan-idle nowbles, baht hahses an' lands, 'at al walk on a carpeted path, an' nivver do nowt wi' ther lily-white hands bud lift uther fowk's jock to ther maath.

1881, Ben Preston, Dialect and Other Poems, page 19:

Hah's a growing lad to thrive baht jock?

1884, William Cudworth (of Bradford), Yorkshire Dialect and Character Sketches, page 15:

Jud put'em i' his poke baht sayingk owt. "Nay, mon!" ses Jock, "tha winnat goo hwon baht gieingk me th' brass for th' pattens, wilt a? Thah'rt welly drunk!"

1886, Robert Holland, A Glossary of Words Used in the County of Chester, page 467:

"Ho'd thi din," cried Dave Berry, thickly. "Ther's noise enew baht thy blether.

1893, Keighley Snowden, Tales of the Yorkshire Wolds, page 127:


bumptiously

bumptiously (comparative more bumptiously, superlative most bumptiously)

more bumptiously (comparative)
most bumptiously (superlative)

He bumptiously introduced himself and subsequently inferred himself as the topic of conversation.


defiantly

defiantly (comparative more defiantly, superlative most defiantly)

more defiantly (comparative)
most defiantly (superlative)


dangerously

dangerously (comparative more dangerously, superlative most dangerously)

more dangerously (comparative)
most dangerously (superlative)

Add in nominations for Django Unchained, The Master and Moonrise Kingdom, and the Academy Awards look dangerously close to being about rewarding the actual best films of the year. Don't tell anyone.

2013 January 11, Tom Shone, “Oscar nominations pull a surprise by showing some taste - but will it last?”, in The Guardian:


higgledy-piggledy

higgledy-piggledy (comparative more higgledy-piggledy, superlative most higgledy-piggledy)

more higgledy-piggledy (comparative)
most higgledy-piggledy (superlative)

A reduplicated rhyming compound. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests a possible link to pig, since the animals huddle in irregular groups, but notes that the connection is uncertain. Attested since the late sixteenth century. The first part of the old alternative form, hoggledy-piggledy, may come from archaic Welsh hogldy, a hovel.

There is no kind of arrangement as regards the buildings they are erected "higgledy-piggledy;" backs to fronts, anyhow, with narrow passages between.

1881, James Greenwood, chapter 11, in Low-Life Deeps:

In a confused, disordered, or random way.


preferably

preferably (comparative more preferably, superlative most preferably)

more preferably (comparative)
most preferably (superlative)

/pɹəˈfɜːɹəˌbli/

In preference; by choice; in a preferable manner.


sare

sare (comparative sarer, superlative sarest)

sarer (comparative)
sarest (superlative)

From Middle English sare, northern variant of sore, from Old English sāre (“sorely”). Cognate with German sehr (“very”).

(UK, dialectal, Northern England, archaic) much, very much, greatly.


rockily

rockily (comparative more rockily, superlative most rockily)

more rockily (comparative)
most rockily (superlative)

https://web.archive.org/web/20060508091041/http://www.michaelmcfadyenscuba.info/articles/earprob.htm
We arrive there five minutes later and I sit up very rockily. I have to get off this boat, I am getting sick.

https://web.archive.org/web/20050217043222/http://www.talkcinema.com/reviews/cannes9907.html
French actress Sophie Marceau entered rockily on heels

The hand-held camera rockily zooms in on one of the surgeons who is holding a circular surgical saw covered in dried blood.

Ten minutes before serving whisk up the whites of eggs with a little sugar and pile rockily on top.

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~doc/mountainbiking/roundsmartsmountain/
After the trail reaches the height of land, it descends sometimes steeply and often rockily.

Roads, railway, river, streams, a world in accurate and lively detail, with mountains sticking up abruptly and rockily, as the old painters painted it.

1924, Maurice Magnus, Memoirs of the Foreign Legion:

https://web.archive.org/web/20060212182830/http://etcweb1.princeton.edu/CampusWWW/Companion/goheen_robert.html
Patient, always humane and trustworthy, he is personally humble at the very time that he is rockily steadfast (an unsympathetic witness might say stubborn), not because he fails to understand and respect the views of others but because he refuses to compromise his own enduring values.

In a manner suggestive of a rock or rocks.

https://web.archive.org/web/20051221172204/http://www.trumanlibrary.org/hoover/mccoy1.htm
They would gain much in common only slowly, and I should add rockily, for the early stages of their acquaintance was based substantially on mutual self-interest.

Having murdered her lecherous grandfather as he attempts an anal assault, Ludmila finds herself catapulted into a rockily conceived exercise in damage-control

2006 February 24, Liz Jensen, “Ludmila's Broken English, by D B C Pierre”, in The Independent:

At 13 Drew was using cocaine, and by the time she was 16 the rockily-rehabbed actress was co-authoring an autobiography about it all.

Unsteadily; inconsistently or resulting in volatility.

https://web.archive.org/web/20060504130636/http://www.albemarle-london.com/notredame.html
The music of Richard Cocciante, the book and lyrics of Luc Plamondon, with the lyrics translated by Will Jennings, are consistently and rockily entertaining

https://web.archive.org/web/20060429210002/http://www.atticlights.co.uk/about.html
Top of the three here is “Ton Of Love”, a back beaten Tom Petty-ish album tracker with Beach Boy backing vox, slick and, get this, rockily abrasive.


conceitedly

conceitedly (comparative more conceitedly, superlative most conceitedly)

more conceitedly (comparative)
most conceitedly (superlative)


wantonly

wantonly (comparative more wantonly, superlative most wantonly)

more wantonly (comparative)
most wantonly (superlative)

From Middle English wantounly, wantounliche, equivalent to wanton + -ly.

Undoubtedly Madam—and it has always been a sentiment of mine—that to propagate a malicious Truth wantonly—is more despicable than to falsify from Revenge […]

1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, II.ii:

I believe that I have no enemy on earth, and none surely would have been so wicked as to destroy me wantonly.

1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter VII, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume I, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC, page 166:


woefully

woefully (comparative more woefully, superlative most woefully)

more woefully (comparative)
most woefully (superlative)

From Middle English wofully, equivalent to woeful + -ly.

to cry woefully

woefully inadequate

woefully incapable

woefully ignorant

The attempt at diversity fell woefully short of dispelling straight stereotypes of us.

1979 December 29, Cindy Stein, “Queers in America's Living Rooms”, in Gay Community News, volume 7, number 23, page 10:

In our broken culture those who have experienced the training of the yogic ashram are often woefully ignorant in the ways of the university, and vice versa.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 219:

In a convulsion that has caught many in Brazil and beyond by surprise, waves of protesters denounced their leaders for dedicating so many resources to cultivating Brazil’s global image by building stadiums for international events, when basic services like education and health care remain woefully inadequate.

2013 June 18, Simon Romero, “Protests Widen as Brazilians Chide Leaders”, in New York Times, retrieved 2013-06-21:


straightforwardly

straightforwardly (comparative more straightforwardly, superlative most straightforwardly)

more straightforwardly (comparative)
most straightforwardly (superlative)


sociably

sociably (comparative more sociably, superlative most sociably)

more sociably (comparative)
most sociably (superlative)

In a sociable manner; with free intercourse; conversibly; familiarly; as a companion.

In later years, marks, commendation cards, and paychecks become important incentives for accomplishments, while the range of socially acceptable behavior widens and the number of secondary drives multiplies.

1978, Stella Chess, Mahin Hassibi, Principles and practice of child psychiatry:

If it were not for his work, everywhere he went socially, everywhere he mixed with others, would cause his past life to rear its ugly head.

2006, Charles R Zickler Jr, Native Alien: An Odyssey of Love And Cryogenic Time Travel Into the World of N.o.w.:

Mamma—poor dear Mamma is so unadvanced, you know!—has an idea that when the Superman does get here he won't be at all the sort of person that one would care to receive socially.

1916, Don Marquis, Hermione and Her Little Group of Serious Thinkers: Will the Best People Receive the Superman Socially?:

For social purposes, in a social situation


impressibly

impressibly (comparative more impressibly, superlative most impressibly)

more impressibly (comparative)
most impressibly (superlative)


daintily

daintily (comparative more daintily, superlative most daintily)

more daintily (comparative)
most daintily (superlative)

From Middle English deyntely; equivalent to dainty + -ly.

SATURNINUS: Go fetch them hither to us presently.
TITUS: Why, there they are, both baked in that pie,
Whereof their mother daintily hath fed,
Eating the flesh that she herself hath bred.

c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]:

Has he beſpoke, what will he have a brace, / Or but one Partridge, or a ſhort-leg'd Hen, / Daintyly carbonado'd?

c. 1615–1616, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “Loves Pilgramage, a Comedy”, in Fifty Comedies and Tragedies. […], [part 2], London: […] J[ohn] Macock [and H. Hills], for John Martyn, Henry Herringman, and Richard Marriot, published 1679, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 69, column 2:

At the last moment Mollie, the foolish, pretty white mare who drew Mr. Jones's trap, came mincing daintily in, chewing at a lump of sugar.

1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC:

[Allegra]'s daintily readjusting her stance.

2019 October 18, Nintendo EPD, Ring Fit Adventure, Nintendo, Nintendo Switch, scene: extra turn, level/area: Beaut Camp:


socially

socially (comparative more socially, superlative most socially)

more socially (comparative)
most socially (superlative)

“Do you like vampires?” she asked.
“Well, I don’t know any socially.”

2009 October 29, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Mr Stink, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:

socially awkward


pliantly

pliantly (comparative more pliantly, superlative most pliantly)

more pliantly (comparative)
most pliantly (superlative)

She was tall and pliantly slender, without angularity anywhere.

1929, Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon:


dilatorily

dilatorily (comparative more dilatorily, superlative most dilatorily)

more dilatorily (comparative)
most dilatorily (superlative)


holus-bolus

Unknown. Possibly of Ancient Greek origin, from ὅλος (hólos, “whole”) and βόλος (bólos, “a throw with a casting net”), or βῶλος (bôlos, “lump”). May have been Latinized (i.e., -us ending as in masculine singular in Latin, as opposed to -os ending for masculine singular in Greek).

to accept a story holus-bolus.

I’ll take it on my shoulders, holus bolus, blame and shame, my boy; but stay here, I cannot let you. Jump! One jump, and you’re out, and we’ll run for it like antelopes.

1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:

All together; entirely; without modification.


above-stairs

above-stairs (comparative more above-stairs, superlative most above-stairs)

more above-stairs (comparative)
most above-stairs (superlative)


craftily

craftily (comparative more craftily, superlative most craftily)

more craftily (comparative)
most craftily (superlative)

From Middle English craftyly, craftily, craftiliche, from Old English cræftiġlīċe (“craftily, skillfully”), equivalent to crafty + -ly.

inh

[H]e [Thomas Arundell] by his euill counſaile and prodigious ſuggeſtions, craftilye circumuented the king, inducyng him to graunt his letters of pardon to a great traytour the Erle of Arondell his brother [Richard Fitzalan, 4th Earl of Arundel].

1569, Richard Grafton, “Richarde the Seconde”, in A Chronicle at Large and Meere History of the Affayres of Englande […], volume II, London: […] Henry Denham, […], for Richarde Tottle and Humffrey Toye, →OCLC, page 390:

But the most bizarre twist of events was yet to come. That afternoon, Labour tabled a craftily worded motion. It would have guaranteed parliamentary time for a bill to ban fracking.

2023 September 1, Aubrey Allegretti, “‘She’s totally lost it’: Inside story of the unravelling of Liz Truss’s premiership”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC:


hypocoristically

en-adv

hypocoristically (comparative more hypocoristically, superlative most hypocoristically)

more hypocoristically (comparative)
most hypocoristically (superlative)


gallantly

gallantly (comparative more gallantly, superlative most gallantly)

more gallantly (comparative)
most gallantly (superlative)

Poirot rose gallantly, bowed her into the seat opposite him.

1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 7, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 124:

In a gallant or gentlemanly manner; with social graces.

[T]he curve of her nostril suggested the figurehead of a ship plunging gallantly into a rough sea.

1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 5, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 244:


feverishly

feverishly (comparative more feverishly, superlative most feverishly)

more feverishly (comparative)
most feverishly (superlative)

In the outer room the two women knitted black wool feverishly.

1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I:

With nothing else to do, he carried the candle to the front room and began feverishly filling his pipe.

1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 80:


wellnigh

[…] Huck’s confidence in the human race was wellnigh obliterated.

1876, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XXIV, in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Hartford, Conn.: The American Publishing Company, →OCLC:

Athens especially never forgave the defection which had wellnigh involved her in hopeless ruin.

1879, F. D. Morice, Pindar, chapter 10, page 161:

Five years ago the officers determined to build a new mess. There was only one objection to the fulfilment of this wish: the regimental coffers were wellnigh empty.

1910, Erwin Rosen [pseudonym; Erwin Carlé], “A Hundred Thousand Heroes—A Hundred Thousand Victims”, in In the Foreign Legion, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC, page 137:


diligently

diligently (comparative more diligently, superlative most diligently)

more diligently (comparative)
most diligently (superlative)

In a diligent manner, with appropriate effort, carefully.


gentlemanly

gentlemanly (comparative more gentlemanly, superlative most gentlemanly)

more gentlemanly (comparative)
most gentlemanly (superlative)

From Middle English gentilmanly; equivalent to gentleman + -ly.

He went gentlemanly dressed in East Virginia style, wore a high-top silk hat, as had lawyer Park, and sported a gold headed walking cane.

1938, Charles A. Johnson, A Narrative History of Wise County, Virginia, page 165:

In the manner or with the behavior of a gentleman; with social grace, politely.


southward

southward (comparative more southward, superlative most southward)

more southward (comparative)
most southward (superlative)

As the remnants retreated northward to Pengyang (平壤 Pʻing-jang), war was declared and a Chinese contingent from Manchuria went southward to that place.

1943, Chao-ying Fang, “SUNG Chʻing [宋慶]”, in Arthur W. Hummel, editor, Eminent Chinese of the Chʻing Period (1644-1912), Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, published 1970, →OCLC, page 687, column 2:

Towards the south; in a southerly direction.


cleverly

cleverly (comparative more cleverly, superlative most cleverly)

more cleverly (comparative)
most cleverly (superlative)

He joked cleverly with each guest.

Cleverly, he found ways of ingratiating himself with all the important guests.

The double world champion quickly closed on to the rear of the Williams, but Maldonado drove cleverly to ensure he was always far enough ahead at the start of the pit straight to ensure Alonso could not pass him.

2012 May 13, Andrew Benson, “Williams's Pastor Maldonado takes landmark Spanish Grand Prix win”, in BBC Sport:

“I ain't a-goin' ter let leetle Mose be kep' up hyar till midnight a-waitin' for you-uns ter milk the cow. It's cleverly dark now.”

1891, Mary Noailles Murfree, In the "Stranger People's" Country, Nebraska, published 2005, page 6:


snugly

snugly (comparative more snugly, superlative most snugly)

more snugly (comparative)
most snugly (superlative)

The peg fit so snugly in the hole that it couldn't be pulled out by hand.

He’s wrapped up snugly in a cozy bubble of self-regard, talking for his own sake more than anyone else’s.

2012 June 3, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Mr. Plow” (season 4, episode 9; originally aired 11/19/1992)”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):

Tightly, with limited space to move, in a snug manner.


snuggly

snuggly (comparative more snuggly, superlative most snuggly)

more snuggly (comparative)
most snuggly (superlative)

(nonstandard) Alternative spelling of snugly


nao

(Internet slang, humorous) Alternative form of now


pithily

pithily (comparative more pithily, superlative most pithily)

more pithily (comparative)
most pithily (superlative)

Essays are written on causes—they might be more pithily turned on consequences.

1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIV, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 263:

In a pithy manner, concisely and to the point.


drolly

drolly (comparative more drolly, superlative most drolly)

more drolly (comparative)
most drolly (superlative)


cunningly

cunningly (comparative more cunningly, superlative most cunningly)

more cunningly (comparative)
most cunningly (superlative)

She was cunningly dressed in a black, sheer gown with gold ornaments showing her figure to perfection.

1966, James Workman, The Mad Emperor, Melbourne, Sydney: Scripts, page 53:


for real

This recipe takes two hours to cook, for real!


concisely

concisely (comparative more concisely, superlative most concisely)

more concisely (comparative)
most concisely (superlative)

In a concise manner, briefly, without excessive length.


busily

busily (comparative more busily, superlative most busily)

more busily (comparative)
most busily (superlative)

From Middle English busily, busiliche, bisili, bisiliche, equivalent to busy + -ly.

But these sweet thoughts do ever refresh my labours,/ Most busil'est when I do it.

1610-11?, Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act III, scene i

Look at the little fellows, mere bundles of fluff, paddling along so busily and sturdily.

1934, Henry G. Lamond, An Aviary on the Plains, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 5:

Quite a crowd of townspeople turned out to see the train start, and several pressmen were busily engaged in taking notes and photographs.

1949 November and December, “Notes and News: By Special Train to Llanfair”, in Railway Magazine, page 409:


per procurationem

to per pro (abbreviation)
p.p. (abbreviation)

Borrowed from Latin per procurationem (“by the agency of/on the instruction of/by proxy”).

bor

(law) by the agency of, especially when signing a letter in place of someone else

(informal) on behalf of (someone who does not sign themselves)


sententiously

en-adv

sententiously (comparative more sententiously, superlative most sententiously)

more sententiously (comparative)
most sententiously (superlative)

"We shall see to-morrow," said the doctor. "We shall," replied Lady Anne, very sententiously.

1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter LXI, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 155:

"It 's an ill wind dat blows nowhar, — dat ar a fact," said Sam, sententiously, giving an additional hoist to his pantaloons, and adroitly substituting a long nail in place of a missing suspender-button, with which effort of mechanical genius he seemed highly delighted.

1851 June – 1852 April, Harriet Beecher Stowe, chapter 6, in Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life among the Lowly, volume I, Boston, Mass.: John P[unchard] Jewett & Company; Cleveland, Oh.: Jewett, Proctor & Worthington, published 20 March 1852, →OCLC, page 70:

He became very cool and collected all at once. ‘I am not such a fool as I look, quoth Plato to his disciples,’ he said sententiously, emptied his glass with great resolution, and we rose.

1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 201:

In a sententious manner, concisely, pithily.


lopsidedly

lopsidedly (comparative more lopsidedly, superlative most lopsidedly)

more lopsidedly (comparative)
most lopsidedly (superlative)

The jay fell all lopsidedly and threshing, as though it were having a fit. The ground killed it.

1967, J. A. Baker, The Peregrine, page 41:


slyly

slyly (comparative more slyly, superlative most slyly)

more slyly (comparative)
most slyly (superlative)

From Middle English sleighly; equivalent to sly + -ly.

VVhen ſhe vvas dreſt, therefore, dovvn ſhe vvent, reſolved to encounter all the Horrours of the Day, and a moſt diſagreeable one it proved; for Lady Bellaſton took every opportunity very civilly and ſlily to inſult her; […]

1749, Henry Fielding, “In which Mrs. Miller Pays a Visit to Sophia”, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume VI, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book XVII, page 134:

So when they were working that evening at the pumps, there was on this head no small gamesomeness slily going on among them, as they stood with their feet continually overflowed by the rippling clear water; […]

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Town-Ho’s Story (As Told at the Golden Inn.)”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 274:

I lie there on the stretcher-bed and laugh slily, but say nothing; give vent to no opinion one way or the other.

1899, Knut Hamsun, “Part II”, in George Egerton [pseudonym; Mary Chavelita Dunne Bright], transl., Hunger […], London: Leonard Smithers and Co […], →OCLC, page 103:


adaptatively

adaptatively (comparative more adaptatively, superlative most adaptatively)

more adaptatively (comparative)
most adaptatively (superlative)


adaptably

adaptably (comparative more adaptably, superlative most adaptably)

more adaptably (comparative)
most adaptably (superlative)


soundly

soundly (comparative more soundly, superlative most soundly)

more soundly (comparative)
most soundly (superlative)

c. 1400s, from sound + -ly. Originally meaning "safely", the present sense came in the 16ᵗʰ century.

He was soundly thrashed by the semi-professional boxer.

Pro. Let them be hunted ſoundly : At this houre / Lies at my mercy all mine enemies :[…]

1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], page 16:

Mrs. Reed soon rallied her spirits: she shook me most soundly, she boxed both my ears, and then left me without a word.

1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter IV, in Jane Eyre. An Autobiography. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, pages 42–43:

The wedding company, fatigued with their enjoyment of the previous night, slept soundly late into the next morning.

1899, William George Aston, A History of Japanese Literature, page 272:

My gold carried little weight with him, he was sincerely fond of me and consequently rated me soundly for all indiscretions, declaring I would regret wasting the best years of my life and deadening my vast talents […]

1911, L. D. Biagi, The Centaurians, Ch. I:

In a thorough manner; in manner free of defect or deficiency.


adaptively

adaptively (comparative more adaptively, superlative most adaptively)

more adaptively (comparative)
most adaptively (superlative)

In an adaptive manner; with adaptation; in a fitting manner


adaptly

adaptly (comparative more adaptly, superlative most adaptly)

more adaptly (comparative)
most adaptly (superlative)

In an suitable or convenient manner; aptly; fitly.


anonymously

In an anonymous manner; without individuality.


trepidatiously

trepidatiously (comparative more trepidatiously, superlative most trepidatiously)

more trepidatiously (comparative)
most trepidatiously (superlative)

In a trepidatious manner; with trepidation


invidiously

invidiously (comparative more invidiously, superlative most invidiously)

more invidiously (comparative)
most invidiously (superlative)

You ask too much, for a man who himself has no occasion to play the hero. I don't say that invidiously; it's your disposition, and you can’t help it.

1875 January–December, Henry James, Jr., chapter XIII, in Roderick Hudson, Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company, late Ticknor & Fields, and Fields, Osgood, & Co., published 1876, →OCLC; republished as Roderick Hudson (EBook #176), U.S.A.: Project Gutenberg, 18 September 2016:

Tess gazed desperately at the pile of furniture. The cold sunlight of this spring evening peered invidiously upon the crocks and kettles, upon the bunches of dried herbs shivering in the breeze, upon the brass handles of the dresser, upon the wicker-cradle they had all been rocked in, […]

1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: James R[ipley] Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., […], →OCLC:

Which country are we to toast in an impassioned and half-informed way? Which country are we to compare invidiously with our own?

2023 February 11, Janan Ganesh, “After Germany's fall, which is the paragon nation?”, in FT Weekend, page 22:


irrevocably

irrevocably (comparative more irrevocably, superlative most irrevocably)

more irrevocably (comparative)
most irrevocably (superlative)

Two distinct cases must be noted: (1) rights of the beneficiary who has been named revocably, that is, with the insured retaining the right to change the beneficiary designation; and (2) rights of the beneficiary who has been named irrevocably by the insured.

1952, Robert Irwin Mehr, Emerson Cammack, Principles of Insurance:

In an irrevocable manner; in a manner which prevents the ability to be reverted, repealed, or undone.


prepensely

prepensely (comparative more prepensely, superlative most prepensely)

more prepensely (comparative)
most prepensely (superlative)


like shit

to hurt like shit

to treat someone like shit


unfathomably

unfathomably (comparative more unfathomably, superlative most unfathomably)

more unfathomably (comparative)
most unfathomably (superlative)

In an unfathomable manner; beyond understanding.


emotionally

emotionally (comparative more emotionally, superlative most emotionally)

more emotionally (comparative)
most emotionally (superlative)

/ɪˈməʊʃənəli/

/ɪˈməʊʃənli/

emotionally unstable personality disorder

Few concepts are as emotionally charged as that of race. The word conjures up a mixture of associations—culture, ethnicity, genetics, subjugation, exclusion and persecution. But is the tragic history of efforts to define groups of people by race really a matter of the misuse of science, the abuse of a valid biological concept?

2012 March-April, Jan Sapp, “Race Finished”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 164:

In an emotional manner; displaying emotion.

Physically, it was easy, but emotionally it was the hardest thing I've ever done.


posthumously

In his boyhood that posthumously libelled sovereign lady, Anne, had terribly prevailed among the dwellings on this highway; […]

1913, Booth Tarkington, The Flirt, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, →OCLC, page 4:

Yet while Gauguin went native, taking teenage mistresses, wearing local costumes and building his own wooden hut, his ultimate purpose was to impress the art world back home. And he did, although posthumously.

2003 October 14, Alan Riding, “The Colors of Paradise As Imagined by Gauguin”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Mormons have recently posthumously baptised at least 20 Holocaust victims, Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe and the Queen Mother, according to a researcher who has spent two decades monitoring the church’s massive genealogical database.

2017 December 21, “Holocaust victims and Queen Mother posthumously baptised by Mormons”, in The Guardian:

In the following month, driver Ben Gimbert and fireman Jim Nightall (posthumously) were awarded the George Cross, the highest honour the King could give civilians.

2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 43:


grotesquely

grotesquely (comparative more grotesquely, superlative most grotesquely)

more grotesquely (comparative)
most grotesquely (superlative)

Till the grotesquely angry scene was interrupted by the arrival of Mina, who came asking for Andrew.

1907, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 209:

Anything more appalling than this jumbled mass of the remains of a departed race I cannot imagine, and what made it even more dreadful was that in this dry air a considerable number of the bodies had simply become desiccated with the skin still on them, and now, fixed in every conceivable position, stared at us out of the mountain of white bones, grotesquely horrible caricatures of humanity.

1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

Slowly, the grotesquely large lady made her way up the steps, the ladder creaking under her considerable weight.

2012, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Ratburger, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:


ambitiously

ambitiously (comparative more ambitiously, superlative most ambitiously)

more ambitiously (comparative)
most ambitiously (superlative)


but and ben

to live but and ben

In the inner and outer parts of a building


unquestionably

unquestionably (comparative more unquestionably, superlative most unquestionably)

more unquestionably (comparative)
most unquestionably (superlative)

From unquestionable + -ly or un- + question + -ably.

without question; beyond doubt; indubitably.


arbitrarily

arbitrarily (comparative more arbitrarily, superlative most arbitrarily)

more arbitrarily (comparative)
most arbitrarily (superlative)

The winner was chosen arbitrarily.

an arbitrarily large number


alarmingly

alarmingly (comparative more alarmingly, superlative most alarmingly)

more alarmingly (comparative)
most alarmingly (superlative)

He sneezed alarmingly.

Even a small camber one way caused the whole outfit to list alarmingly.

2000, Bob Foster, Birdum or Bust!, Henley Beach, SA: Seaview Press, page 173:

alarmerende

in an alarming manner, frighteningly. In a way that induces fear or concern

Alarmingly, he went into a severe sneezing fit.

He went into an alarmingly severe sneezing fit.


pharmacologically

/ˌfɑɹməkəˈlɒd͡ʒɪkəli/

(pharmacology) In a pharmacological manner; with regard to pharmacology.


mundanely

mundanely (comparative more mundanely, superlative most mundanely)

more mundanely (comparative)
most mundanely (superlative)


well-nigh

From Middle English wel-neigh (“physically close to; near in time to; almost, nearly; closely”) [and other forms], from Old English wel nēah, wel nēh, from wel (“well”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- (“to choose; to want”)) + nēah, nēh (“close, near”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂neḱ- (“to attain, reach”)). Synchronically a univerbation of well (“completely, fully; to a significant degree”) + nigh (“close by, near”).

nb...

welnieghe, welneʒgh, (Early Middle English) welnech

univ

The ſame ſo ſore annoyed has the Knight, / That welnigh choked with the deadly ſtinke, / His forces faile, ne can no lenger fight.

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 22, page 9:

The household cock had given his first summons, and the night was well nigh spent.

1816, [Walter Scott], chapter III, in The Antiquary. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 70:

[…] Sindbad the Seaman continued:—So when I escaped drowning and reached the island which afforded me fruit to eat and water to drink, I returned thanks to the Most High and glorified Him; after which I sat till nightfall, hearing no voice and seeing none inhabitant. Then I lay down, well-nigh dead for travail and trouble and terror, and slept without surcease till morning, […]

1885, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, “[Sindbad the Seaman and Sindbad the Landsman] The Fifth Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman. [Night 560.]”, in A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, now Entituled The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night […], Shammar edition, volume VI, [London]: […] Burton Club […], →OCLC, page 59:

This is what makes off-hand testimony about the subjective identity of different sensations well-nigh worthless as a proof of the fact.

1890, William James, “The Stream of Thought”, in The Principles of Psychology […] (American Science Series—Advanced Course), volume I, New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Company, →OCLC, page 231:

Five years ago the officers determined to build a new mess. There was only one objection to the fulfilment of this wish: the regimental coffers were wellnigh empty.

1910, Erwin Rosen [pseudonym; Erwin Carlé], “A Hundred Thousand Heroes—A Hundred Thousand Victims”, in In the Foreign Legion, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC, page 137:

From the third quarter of the 18th century, there has been a steady accession of English words into Bengali, and through an intimate knowledge of the English language and English culture among the educated classes—and 'educated' is now almost synonymous with 'educated in English'—an unending stream of English words is now being admitted into Bengali; and the process was never more active than at the present moment: so that it is well-nigh impossible now to estimate the English element in Bengali, alike in its extent and in its phonology.

1926, Suniti Kumar Chatterji, “Phonology of the Foreign Element: English”, in The Origin and Development of the Bengali Language […], part I (Introduction, Phonology), Calcutta: Calcutta University Press, →OCLC, paragraph 381, page 633:

Derelict and well-nigh forgotten, Port Victoria now watches the great ships on the Medway—ships that might have berthed in its docks.

1939 July, “Pertinent Paragraphs: Port Victoria”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 67:

Directed by Christopher Gans[…] and scripted by Roger Avary, who shared an Oscar with Tarantino for the screenplay of Pulp Fiction, Silent Hill is a well-nigh incomprehensible horror movie made in Canada and set in a West Virginian ghost town.

2006 April 22, Philip French, “Silent Hill”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

почти

almost, nearly — see also almost, nearly


frighteningly

en-adv

frighteningly (comparative more frighteningly, superlative most frighteningly)

more frighteningly (comparative)
most frighteningly (superlative)

The pitcher that was set before me was frighteningly large.

Risk is everywhere.[…]For each [kind] there is a frighteningly precise measurement of just how likely it is to jump from the shadows and get you. “The Norm Chronicles”[…]aims to help data-phobes find their way through this blizzard of risks.

2013 June 22, “Snakes and ladders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 76:

Very; beyond usual expectation so as to cause surprise or concern.


day one

to buy something day one

At the very beginning; when something is entirely new.


aliunde

a case proved aliunde

evidence aliunde

(law) From another source; from elsewhere.


moe

Sing no more ditties, sing no moe.

1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:

The crafty courtiers with their guileful looks,
Must needs put some experience in my maw:
Yet cannot these with many mast'ries moe
Make me shoot straight at any gainful prick […]


inappropriately

inappropriately (comparative more inappropriately, superlative most inappropriately)

more inappropriately (comparative)
most inappropriately (superlative)


overwinter

Ground cover of perennial grasses declined seriously under plots covered overwinter with dead thistle plants.

1968, Earl F. Aldon, Detrimental Effect of Russian thistle on Semidesert Range in West Central New Mexico:

Moreover, each year of continuous corn cropping the corn stover would be turned under by fall plowing in preparation for the next spring planting, leaving the land bare overwinter.

1985, Technologies to Benefit Agriculture and Wildlife, page 63:

The copepod Thermocyclops oithonoides rests overwinter as copepodids in lake mud in the Mugglesee and other lakes in Europe.

2014, Lee Hannah, Climate Change Biology, page 95:


more or less

/mɔɹ ɔɹ lɛs/

There were a hundred people in the room, more or less.

The sporophyte foot is also characteristic: it is very broad and more or less lenticular or disciform, as broad or broader than the calyptra stalk[…], and is sessile on the calyptra base[…]

1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page 5:

I've more or less guaranteed myself a top mark in my final exams.

[X] is always more or less of a [Y]

Entrepreneurship is always more or less of a gamble.

The weaknesses of the many make the leader possible—and the man who craves disciples and wants followers is always more or less of a charlatan. The man of genuine worth and insight wants to be himself; and he wants others to be themselves, also. Discipleship is a degenerating process to all parties concerned. People who are able to do their own thinking should not allow others to do it for them.

1927, Elbert Hubbard, The Notebook of Elbert Hubbard: Mottos, Epigrams, Short Essays, Passages, Orphic Sayings and Preachments: Coined from a Life of Love, Laugher and Work, William H. Wise and Company, page 197:

To varying extents, across instances; to an extent that varies among cases.


seriatim

/sɪəɹɪˈeɪtɪm/

/sɛɹɪˈeɪtɪm/

From Medieval Latin seriatim, from Latin seriēs (“row, chain”) + -ātim, adverbial suffix.

That pen should go on, lay bare these wounds of our constitution, expose these decisions seriatim, and arouse, as it is able, the attention of the nation to these bold speculators on its patience.

1829, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, Memoir, Correspondence, and Miscellanies: from the papers of Thomas Jefferson, page 337:

The author then took up each step seriatim of the technique and after-treatment.

1893, “Medical Record”, in George F. Shrady, editor, (Please provide the book title or journal name), volume 43, page 570:

Despite the seemingly bright start in North America, French forces failed to stop the English from opening up the Saint Lawrence seaway through Louisbourg, which fell in 1758, and French fortresses along the Ohio river passed seriatim into English hands.

2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, page 242:

Children who seriatim decapitate a row of trees or pull the wings off flies hardly do it unintentionally, but they may have no reason or motive […]

2006, Daniel Yeager, J. L. Austin and the Law: Exculpation and the Explication of Responsibility, page 42:

One after another, in order; taking one topic or subject at a time in an order; sequentially.


just about

‘Have you already reached your sales target?’ ‘Just about.’

Afore we got to the shanty Colonel Applegate stuck his head out of the door. His temper had been getting raggeder all the time, and the sousing he got when he fell overboard had just about ripped what was left of it to ravellings.

1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VIII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:


erotically

erotically (comparative more erotically, superlative most erotically)

more erotically (comparative)
most erotically (superlative)


flat out

After 10 minutes of running flat out, he was out of breath.

I was already sliding and too dedicated to change my line and just went flat out completely off the course.

1966 November, Steve McQueen, “Motorcycles: What I like in a Bike - and why”, in Popular Science, page 80:

When antelope are running flat out, they resemble very rapidly departing dots; some say they can hit 60 mph.

1979 November, Bob Brister, “Apache Antelope”, in Field & Stream, page 128:

I was half way down the strip when I heard a speedboat and ran flat out back to the landing spot.

2007, Chris Viner-Smith, Australia′s Forgotten Frontier: The Unsung Police Who Held Our PNG Front Line, page 49:

The company's growth in the rail freight market, with a mix of new-to-rail and contract gains, has led to it working flat out.

2023 July 12, Pip Dunn, “Class 99s: the "ultimate Electro-Diesel"”, in RAIL, number 987, page 53:

She thought it was best to tell him she didn't love him flat out.

He was flat out furious when his car was stolen.

Suppose that Professor Turk has won a prestigious grant and wants to impress his hearer with this fact, without saying flat out that he won it.

1984, Aloysius Martinich, Communication and Reference, page 38:

If, on the other hand, you simply deny flat out that you can give a metaphysical account of the concept “woman,” on the grounds that women are not essentially like one another in any respect— a position that, it′s important to notice, entails a commitment to your thinking that the idea of giving such an account is at least coherent— then you leave yourself with a problem about how to justify a politics based on the oppression of women.

2001, Nancy Bauer, Simone de Beauvoir, Philosophy, & Feminism, page 38:

“You′re gonna die,” he flat-out told Arfons.

2003 October, “Fool Speed Ahead”, in Cincinnati Magazine, page 128:

Sometimes an eagerly promoted product turns out to be a joke — and sometimes it′s just flat out dangerous to life, limb, or commerce.

2005 March, Seth Masia, “Almost Hits, Mostly Misses”, in Skiing Heritage: Journal of the International Skiing History Association, page 35:

2006, Tony Rossi, Critique by guest commentator: Dr. Tony Rossi, Stephen Hagan, Australia's Blackest Sporting Moments: The Top 100, page 129,
The media (in all its forms) has been known to stoop to even lower levels by flat out abusing non-whites such as the Bulletin's little description of Patrick Bowman reported above and then the Referee's self-congratulatory note that Evans (the Balmain nigger ped) had found gainful employment (at which he was 'very handy' rather than competent or skilled) and had ceased to waste everybody's time with his running.

But I was disappointed and really unhappy with myself because I′d given in to a gut reaction that was flat-out wrong.

2008 March, Martha Lunken, “Lost in a DC-3 Over Georgia”, in Flying, page 64:

(idiomatic) Without hesitation or reservation, bluntly, no holds barred, totally, outright.


soberly

soberly (comparative more soberly, superlative most soberly)

more soberly (comparative)
most soberly (superlative)

From Middle English soberly; equivalent to sober + -ly.

They gathered soberly in the farthest recess of the ward and gossiped about him in malicious, offended undertones, rebelling against his presence as a ghastly imposition and resenting him malevolently for the nauseating truth of which he was bright reminder.

1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 169:

In a sober manner; temperately; coolly; calmly; gravely; seriously.


dree

dree (comparative more dree, superlative most dree)

more dree (comparative)
most dree (superlative)

Of the doing of a task: with concentration; laboriously.

Chiefly of the falling of rain: without pause or stop; continuously, incessantly.

(Lancashire, Scotland) Slowly, tediously.


uno flatu

/ˈuːnəʊ ˈflɑːtuː/

Borrowed from Latin ūnō flātū (“in one breath”, “at one blast”), ablative of time-within-which of ūnus flātus (“a single blast of wind or expulsion of breath”).

bor

For quotations using this term, see Citations:uno flatu.

(law) At once, at one blast, at the same moment, contemporaneously, simultaneously.


why not

I don't want to go out today. — Why not?

Let's have pizza for lunch. — Yes, why not?

(rhetorical) Used to state that one has no objection to and approves of a proposal.

Why not try turning the handle in the other direction to see if that opens the window?

(rhetorical) Used to introduce a proposal.


slovenly

en-adv

slovenly (comparative more slovenly, superlative most slovenly)

more slovenly (comparative)
most slovenly (superlative)


peacefully

peacefully (comparative more peacefully, superlative most peacefully)

more peacefully (comparative)
most peacefully (superlative)

From Middle English peesfully, peasfullie, paisfulike, paisfullic, equivalent to peaceful + -ly.

She and her husband managed to fix up a false floor in one of their rooms in which they fed the roosters; so whenever a picket came in sight her call would bring the whole family out of the woods and clearing into the refuge, where they remained peacefully amongst corn-cobs till the danger had passed.

1881, Thomas Hughes, Rugby, Tennessee, Macmillan and Co., page 58:


patently

patently (comparative more patently, superlative most patently)

more patently (comparative)
most patently (superlative)

Many of the so-called rites of these secret societies were so patently ridiculous, that it is quite obvious that they were merely an excuse for men and women to indulge in sex-play and lustful gratification, frequently of an abnormal kind.

1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 161:


heaps

I love him heaps.


pantheistically

pantheistically (comparative more pantheistically, superlative most pantheistically)

more pantheistically (comparative)
most pantheistically (superlative)


deistically

deistically (comparative more deistically, superlative most deistically)

more deistically (comparative)
most deistically (superlative)


atheistically

atheistically (comparative more atheistically, superlative most atheistically)

more atheistically (comparative)
most atheistically (superlative)


resignedly

resignedly (comparative more resignedly, superlative most resignedly)

more resignedly (comparative)
most resignedly (superlative)

Resignedly, I telegraphed back that it was all right with me if he insisted.

With resignation and acceptance; in a resigned manner


ruefully

ruefully (comparative more ruefully, superlative most ruefully)

more ruefully (comparative)
most ruefully (superlative)

He smiled ruefully at me.

He pushed his straw hat back, scratched his head, and laughed ruefully.

In a rueful manner; causing, feeling, or expressing regret or sorrow.


paulo post futurum

Latin for "about to be, a little after"; reinterpreted as "a little after the future".

(dated) Of a future passive tense in Ancient Greek.

(colloquial) Eventually; some time in the distant future, or possibly never.


theistically

theistically (comparative more theistically, superlative most theistically)

more theistically (comparative)
most theistically (superlative)


voetstoots

Dutch met de voet te stoten: to kick. Through Afrikaans.

(South Africa, law) Sold in this manner.


all around

Love Is All Around (song title)

That's, of course, overlooking the fact that the Foundation grabbed some teenage girls off the street, experimented on them, chucked them underground, and forgot about them. Maybe, if that plan had actually worked to save humanity, there'd be some arguments there, but, as it is, it's really just a bad look all around.

2023 October 14, “Exploring the SCP Foundation: SCP-7450 - L is for Lamentations” (23:16 from the start), in The Exploring Series, archived from the original on 2023-10-14:

I bought drinks all around.


everso

But as the h, though everso feebly aspirated has something of a consonant sound, […]

1851, Goold Brown, The Grammar of English Grammars, Samuel S. & William Wood, page 221:

Lanky: "They never say anything. They don't like talking. They're everso quiet."

1984, John F. Schostak, Tom Logan, Pupil Experience, Croom Helm, →ISBN, page 44:

Belinda panicked for a second and then caught Neill just shake his head everso slightly and wink.

2006, D. A. Watson, Faraday’s Paperweight, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 66: