gladly
Americanadverb
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with happiness, pleasure, or delight; joyfully.
Thank you for your friendship, which I gladly accept.
-
willingly and readily.
I will gladly die defending the honor of my fallen brothers.
Etymology
Origin of gladly
Explanation
If you're more than willing to do something, you'll do it gladly, with enthusiasm. Most people will gladly accept free passes to an amusement park. You can offer something gladly: "I'll gladly give you a ride to the movies tonight." And you can also receive something gladly, with gratitude: "I gladly accept this award on behalf of all the fire jugglers that came before me!" Gladly comes from glad and its root, ghel-, which means "to shine," as in shining with happiness or being radiant with joy.
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.
Gladly, we’re seeing this becoming true year after year.
From The Verge • Nov. 9, 2021
"OK, well, I’ll do that. Gladly," Aniston jokingly added.
From Fox News • Aug. 3, 2021
Gladly, all these years later, that very odd shiver still passes through.
From The New Yorker • Mar. 9, 2017
Celtic fan and comedian Billy Connolly has joked in the past about how the lyrics of the hymn Gladly, the cross I'd bear have been misheard as "gladly, the cross-eyed bear".
From BBC • Oct. 31, 2013
"Gladly, Your Grace," Ned said with vast relief.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
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.
