lightly

English

Alternative forms

• lighty (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English lyghtly, liȝtliche, lihtliche, from Old English lēohtlīċe, equivalent to light +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlaɪtli/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪtli

Adverb

lightly (comparative lightlier or more lightly, superlative lightliest or most lightly)

1. In a light manner.

   As a teacher, I don't take rudeness in class lightly.

   • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VIII, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

     Elbows almost touching they leaned at ease, idly reading the almost obliterated lines engraved there. ¶ "I never understood it," she observed, lightly scornful. "What occult meaning has a sun-dial for the spooney? I'm sure I don't want to read riddles in a strange gentleman's optics."

   • 1958 November, “Storm Damage in the Home Counties”, in Railway Magazine, page 746:

     In the Southern Region of British Railways, most of the damage was caused by earthslips which blocked one or both roads. Obstructions occurred at 21 places in the London Eastern District, and at 18 places in London Central District. On the other hand, the London Western District escaped comparatively lightly.

Derived terms

• get off lightly
• lightliness
• once-over-lightly
• overlightly
• take lightly
• tread lightly
• tread-lightly

Translations

in a light manner

• Armenian: թեթևակի (hy) (tʻetʻewaki)
• Bulgarian: леко (bg) (leko), несериозно (bg) (neseriozno)
• Catalan: lleugerament (ca)
• Czech: lehce (cs)
• Esperanto: malpeze
• Faroese: lættliga
• Finnish: kevyesti (fi)
• French: légèrement (fr)
• Galician: lixeiramente (gl)
• German: leicht (de)
• Italian: alla leggera, superficialmente (it), in maniera superficiale
• Latin: leviter
• Polish: lekko (pl)
• Portuguese: levemente (pt), levianamente
• Russian: легко́ (ru) (lexkó), слегка́ (ru) (slexká)
• Sanskrit: लघु (sa) (laghu)
• Slovak: ľahko
• Spanish: ligeramente (es)

References

• “lightly”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “lightly”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.