fairly

English

Etymology

fair +‎ -ly

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈfɛə(ɹ).li/, X-SAMPA: /"fE@(r\).li/
• (US) IPA: /ˈfɛɹ.li/, X-SAMPA: /"fEr\.li/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛə(r)li
• Hyphenation: fair‧ly

Adverb

fairly (comparative more fairly, superlative most fairly)

1. In a fair manner; clearly; openly; plainly; fully; distinctly; frankly.
2. Favorably; auspiciously; commodiously; as, a town fairly situated for foreign trade.
3. Honestly; properly.

   1859 Easton, Alexander, A Practical Treatise on Street or Horse-Power Railways, p 108, "Rules adopted by the Sixth Avenue Railway, N. Y.":

   • 10. You will be civil and attentive to passengers, giving proper assistance to ladies and children getting in or out, and never start the car before passengers are fairly received or landed.

4. Softly; quietly; gently.
5. partly, not fully; somewhat

   The weather this weekend will be fairly dry.

Usage notes

• This is a non-descriptive qualifier, similar to quite and rather and somewhat, and some other degree adverbs. Used where a plain adjective needs to be modified, but cannot be qualified. When spoken, the meaning can vary with the tone of voice and stress. He was fairly' big can mean anything from "not exactly small" to "almost huge".

Translations

in a fair manner

• Bulgarian: справедливо (bg) (spravedlivo), безпристрастно (bg) (bezpristrastno)
• Catalan: francament (ca), verdaderament (ca)

• Czech: spravedlivě (cs), poctivě (cs)
• Kyrgyz: ак ниет менен (ky) (ak niyet menen), ак ниеттик менен (ky) (ak niyettik menen), адилеттик менен (ky) (adilettik menen), адилеттик кылып (ky) (adilettik kılıp), туура (ky) (tuura), чыдарлык (ky) (çıdarlık), ыраазы болуп (ky) (ıraazı bolup), канааттанып (ky) (kanaattanıp)
• Spanish: francamente (es), abiertamente (es)

favorably; auspiciously; commodiously

• Czech: příznivě (cs)

honestly; properly

• Bulgarian: честно (bg) (čestno)

• Czech: čestně (cs), správně (cs)

partly, not fully; somewhat

• Bulgarian: сравнително (bg) (sravnitelno), горе-долу (bg) (gore-dolu)