doubly

American  

[duhb-lee] / ˈdʌb li /

adverb

1. to a double measure or degree.

   to be doubly cautious.

2. in a double manner.

3. Obsolete. with duplicity.

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doubly British  

/ ˈdʌblɪ /

adverb

1. to or in a double degree, quantity, or measure

   doubly careful

2. in two ways

   doubly wrong

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Etymology

Origin of doubly

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at double, -ly

Explanation

The adverb doubly means "twice as" or "double." If your new French class is doubly hard as last year's class, it's two times harder. Sometimes people use doubly for general emphasis, to mean "very" or "especially." Your boss might say, "Today's doubly important because the owner of the company will be observing our work." Or you might feel doubly hungry for breakfast after a morning swim. Doubly comes from the adjective double, with its Latin root of duplus, "twofold or twice as much," from duo, "two."

Example Sentences

"We were able to isolate an intermediate structure from our ruthenium complex formation reaction and characterize this with single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Surprisingly, we found the structure to be doubly ring-slipped," says Takebayashi.

From Science Daily • May 22, 2026

It was doubly bold, because Seaver was a clean-cut former Marine not given to agitation, and the World Series hadn’t even started.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

Baseball is fleeting, a bit of good-hearted nationalism doubly so.

From Salon • Mar. 18, 2026

Of course she can sing too, but I was doubly impressed that she’s a heck of a physical comedian.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 10, 2026

The singing, thundering, magical words made her seem doubly dangerous, doubly alluring.

From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley