gleefully
Americanadverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of gleefully
First recorded in 1730–40; gleeful ( def. ) + -ly ( def. )
Explanation
When you do something gleefully, you do it in an extremely happy way. If two kids call to each other gleefully across the playground, there's laughter and delight in their voices. Wedding guests might rush gleefully onto the dance floor when the DJ plays a popular song, and a child who is trick or treating for the first time will often gleefully dress in her ghost costume and even more gleefully watch her plastic pumpkin fill with Halloween candy. The adjective gleeful and related noun glee are at the root of gleefully, all of them sharing the Latin root word gliu, "entertainment, mirth, jest, or play."
Vocabulary lists containing gleefully
Achievement First 6th Grade IA 1 Words
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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.
But immediately afterwards, Grant appeared to forget the entire point of the game, by gleefully blurting out to those around him he was actually a traitor.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
Curry, who died Tuesday at 80, made a gleefully evil turn as a clown that sparked nightmares for legions of Gen X and millennial viewers that continue to haunt to this day.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
Manchester United's fans had endured a bad enough day on the banks of the River Humber when Hull City's stadium announcer gleefully piped up midway through the second half.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
Carlin would not be at all surprised that our children’s generation faces corporate heads gleefully replacing human workers with AI.
From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2026
Turner felt the cold air deep down when he breathed it in, and the snow that fell on his lashes and into his hair stayed there, gleefully stubborn.
From "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary D. Schmidt
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.
