safely
Americanadverb
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without harm or injury.
The travel team has arrived safely and on schedule.
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without risk or danger.
While we sit safely in our air-conditioned homes complaining, he’s driving across the country working for change.
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in a way that protects from loss, damage, or harm.
I wanted that piece of paper safely filed away, just in case I needed to look at it again.
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without likelihood of being wrong; with reasonable assurance.
I think we can safely say that the zoo expects some puma kittens later this year!
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of safely
Explanation
Do something in a careful or cautious way, and you'll do it safely. The most important thing you'll learn in a drivers ed class is to drive safely. "Travel safely!" you might call to a departing friend. You're encouraging them to avoid danger as they make their way home. You can bike safely by wearing a helmet and using hand signals, and use power tools safely by following all the rules and focusing on your work. Safely comes from safe and its Latin root salvus, "uninjured or in good health."
Vocabulary lists containing safely
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.
Safely disposing of excess prescription pills isn’t a simple matter.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 27, 2025
California’s Safely Surrendered Baby law allows for parents or guardians to confidentially surrender newborns under 72 hours old to hospitals or designated fire stations without questions or penalty of abandonment.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 14, 2024
Safely in the lantern, the flame will depart for France on Saturday on a 19th century sailing ship across the Mediterranean Sea, to make landfall 12 days later in the southern port city of Marseille.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 26, 2024
Safely repurposing electronic products automatically eliminates the greenhouse gas production associated with creating new devices.
From Salon • Mar. 22, 2024
Safely locked into the bathroom, she had leisure to take stock of her injuries.
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
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.
