sparringly

English

Etymology

sparring +‎ -ly

Adverb

sparringly (comparative more sparringly, superlative most sparringly)

1. As if sparring; in a combative manner.
   • 1982, Yvonne Whittal, Bitter-Sweet Waters, page 144:

     There was a tense, angry silence as they faced each other sparringly in Abbey's dimly lit lounge, then Dalene hissed accusingly, 'You just don't care, do you?'

   • 2015, Megan Quigley, Modernist Fiction and Vagueness: Philosophy, Form, and Language:

     Woolf makes subjective even her statement that human affairs are subjective; Russell sparringly equates mathematics with divinity.