fairly
Americanadverb
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in a fair manner; justly or honestly; impartially.
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moderately; tolerably.
a fairly heavy rain.
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properly; legitimately.
a claim fairly made.
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Chiefly Southern U.S.
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The wheels fairly spun.
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He slipped off the roof and fairly broke his neck.
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Archaic. clearly; distinctly.
fairly seen.
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Obsolete. gently; softly.
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Obsolete. with respect and courtesy.
adverb
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(not used with a negative) moderately
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as deserved; justly
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(not used with a negative) positively; absolutely
the hall fairly rang with applause
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archaic clearly
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obsolete courteously
Etymology
Origin of fairly
A Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at fair 1, -ly
Explanation
When you do something fairly, you treat everyone with equal consideration. Sharing a pizza fairly between six people is easy: just give each person one slice. A teacher who doesn't treat all students fairly isn't a very good teacher — and a police officer who doesn't act fairly toward all citizens is also doing a poor job. When you behave fairly, you're unbiased and impartial, and you follow the rules. You can also use this adverb to mean "to a large degree" or "reasonably." For example, you could say, "I'm fairly certain that it's going to snow again tomorrow."
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.
“I’d expect a fairly short speech,” said Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, adding that there still are a lot of “unanswered questions.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026
Its popularity surged earlier this month, as users began posting about what they saw as a highly capable AI assistant that worked fairly seamlessly, a goal technologists have long considered a holy grail.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
"The model of myopia we use in the tree shrew is fairly extreme," says corresponding author Richard Lang, PhD, director of research in the Division of Ophthalmology at Cincinnati Children's.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 26, 2026
The heat is expected to be fairly short-lived though and temperatures are unlikely to reach heatwave thresholds again before the end of August.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
Argentina’s Miguel Najdorf, who knew Bobby fairly well, said: “He prefers to enter chess history alone.”
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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.
