adverb
-
in a jaunty or high-spirited manner
-
in a light or delicate manner
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of airily
First recorded in 1760–70; see airy, -ly ( def. )
Explanation
When you do something airily, you do it in a casual, offhanded way. You might hide your excitement at meeting a movie star by airily saying, "Oh, hi." If you speak or behave airily, you give the impression that you don't really care. If a local politician responds airily to a citizen's legitimate concerns about crime, she's likely to suffer some criticism for not taking her constituents seriously enough. Airily comes from airy, originally defined as "with ostentatious air."
Vocabulary lists containing airily
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
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A Streetcar Named Desire
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The Witch of Blackbird Pond
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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.
Airily written, amusingly scored, sprinkled with reliable supporting players, Bluebeard's Eighth Wife has more deftness than heft, loses speed in the late rounds.
From Time Magazine Archive
Airily, he put up collateral for a $200,000 loan for the striking A.F.L.-C.I.O. flight engineers of Eastern Air Lines�why shouldn't flight engineers be added to Jimmy's dream of a Teamster-dominated joint transport council?
From Time Magazine Archive
Airily remarking that he was "happy to see you all again," Maurice Couve de Murville presented a ten-point proposal for changing the "style" of the Common Market's Executive Commission in Brussels.
From Time Magazine Archive
Airily ignoring Lyman's speech, Pete Halleck put his chin out at the Sophomore.
From Stanford Stories Tales of a Young University by Field, Charles K. (Charles Kellogg)
Airily Boreland waved a hand through the smoke.
From Where the Sun Swings North by Willoughby, Barrett
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.
