adverb
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with ease; without difficulty or exertion
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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
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.
The experiments revealed an extraordinary difference in how easily the vortices could move depending on their direction.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
They break easily, are notoriously intricate and require being shipped out to third parties for repairs.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
“Product-planning mistakes are not fixed easily or quickly,” said Oxcap analyst Stuart Pearson.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
"I'm excited long-time problems are now solved, but on the other hand, I have mixed feelings, because AI seems to have solved these difficult problems so easily," he said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
The ball sailed through the hoop, but Jonah had the feeling that it could just as easily have bounced off.
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
