daintily

[deyn-ti-lee]

adverb

1. in a way that shows fine or delicate manners or tastes.

   She'd been nibbling daintily on a sparerib; now she dabbed her lips with a napkin.

2. with particular care to avoid soiling, spilling, damage, etc.; fastidiously.

   We piled our trash daintily atop overfilled garbage cans.

3. delicately and beautifully, or with fine, exquisite detail.

   I was glad for the moment to be neither an ornithologist nor an entomologist, so that I might leave every one of these daintily colored sunbirds and butterflies to the enjoyment of its life.

Other Word Forms

• overdaintily adverb
• undaintily adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of daintily¹

dainty ( def. ) + -ly

Example Sentences

“Well, thanks very much! You’re awfully kind, Lady C,” he said, and curtsied as daintily as he could.

Read more on Literature

“I am having an epiphany about the poor,” Lady Constance proclaimed, stepping daintily over the writhing child.

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On the second floor, women sat in front of vanity desks as make-up artists powdered their faces and daintily applied blush to the apples of their cheeks.

Read more on Barron's

The creature daintily stepped into it, smiling shyly up at Jack as his grandfather walked over.

Read more on Literature

At one point, she daintily wraps a piece of tulle ribbon around a raw fish carcass.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• casually 
• delicately 
• easily 
• faintly www.thesaurus.com
• freely 
• gingerly 
• mildly 
• moderately 
• quietly 
• simply 
• slightly 
• softly 
• sparsely 
• subtly 
• tenderly 
• thinly www.thesaurus.com