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bigly

American  
[big-lee] / ˈbɪg li /

adverb

  1. in a big way; greatly.

    Their gifts made the children smile bigly.

    Aaron was tall for his age, and bigly built.

  2. strongly; with violent force.

    Waves pounded bigly against our starboard side.

  3. boastfully; haughtily.

    She pronounces her opinions bigly, as if they are divine mandates.


adjective

  1. pleasantly habitable.

    a settlement of modest but bigly homes.

Etymology

Origin of bigly

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English ; see big 1 ( def. ) + -ly

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.

That lackluster support shows up bigly in stock returns.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026

He lost this debate, as he would say, bigly.

From Salon • Sep. 11, 2024

Paul Dans announced he will leave the Heritage Foundation think-tank, which published the document, to "direct all my efforts to winning, bigly!"

From BBC • Jul. 30, 2024

Now W magazine has delivered bigly with its new “Best Performances” series photographed by world-renowned shooter Juergen Teller.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 25, 2021

He was a peasant, a bigly made man, very neatly and decently dressed in a workman's blouse and black trousers.

From The Secret City by Walpole, Hugh, Sir