freely
Americanadverb
Etymology
Origin of freely
before 900; Middle English freliche, Old English frēolīce. See free, -ly
Explanation
When you do something freely, you act without restraint or control by anyone or anything. Weekends are best when you can freely choose when to wake up and what to do with your days. Many people spend their childhoods yearning to be older so they can freely live their lives. On a smaller scale, if you let your backyard chickens roam unchecked around your property, they can move freely; and if you ice skate on a lake instead of a small indoor rink, you can move freely, in any direction, without being scolded. Freely comes from free, with its Old English root freo, "acting of one's own will."
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.
"MTI has been liberated and works freely... Topics and organisations previously banned have returned to our coverage. Propaganda has been pushed out," said an editor.
From Barron's • May 30, 2026
What Bagehot actually said was that a central bank must face down a panic by lending freely at a high rate of interest to solvent banks against good collateral.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026
It is an imponderable – not just in terms of the international picture and whether fuel is by then flowing freely through the Strait of Hormuz.
From BBC • May 21, 2026
One part consisted of superconductors, materials that allow electricity to move freely without resistance.
From Science Daily • May 21, 2026
For after 1765 Copley freely adapted and combined motifs from different prints in his paintings, often disguising their origins so completely that we cannot be certain which they were.
From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson
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.
