adverb
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with ease; without difficulty or exertion
-
by far; beyond question; undoubtedly
he is easily the best in the contest
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probably; almost certainly
he may easily come first
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of easily
First recorded in 1250–1300, easily is from the Middle English word esily. See easy, -ly
Explanation
Things that happen easily don't require a lot of effort. When your old car starts easily on a very cold morning, you'll breathe a sigh of relief. While you can only climb a mountain with difficulty, you can probably climb the stairs in your house easily. You can also use this adverb to mean something closer to "quickly," as when you describe your puppy as easily distracted with treats or yourself as easily bored by long books. The Old French root of easily is aisie, "comfortable" or "at ease."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Apple unveiled new child accounts and a comprehensive redesign of its parental controls settings that can more easily be set to block adult websites and only allow age-appropriate media.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 8, 2026
What may look like a fossil human tooth-picking groove could just as easily be the by-product of everyday chewing.
From Science Daily • Jun. 8, 2026
Human soldiers have easily foiled AI systems by doing what is "out of the ordinary", like somersaulting or putting cardboard boxes over their heads, he adds.
From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026
That could easily mean $500 billion in annual revenue and $300 billion in Ebitda, by the middle of the next decade.
From Barron's • Jun. 8, 2026
Most of those sales were probably for the usual bric-a-brac and curios the scenarioists bought for themselves, but the tally was easily going to be the best of the summer.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
