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."

Derived terms

• get off lightly
• once-over-lightly
• take 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 (eo)
• 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.