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Synonyms

handily

American  
[han-di-lee, -dl-ee] / ˈhæn dɪ li, -dl i /

adverb

  1. skillfully; dexterously; expertly.

    to manage a boat handily.

  2. conveniently.

    The books were handily at his side.

  3. easily.

    We won handily.

  4. Midland U.S. rightly; readily.

    You can't handily blame him.
handily British  
/ ˈhændɪlɪ /

adverb

  1. in a handy way or manner

  2. conveniently or suitably

    handily nearby

  3. easily

    the horse won handily
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of handily

First recorded in 1605–15; handy + -ly

Explanation

Doing something handily means it's easy or convenient. If the post office is handily located near your house, you can handily mail all your holiday cards on your way to school. This adverb can be used for things that are close at hand, making them easily available, or for anything done gracefully or dexterously: "She handily shuffled the cards and dealt." However, you'll most often find handily filling in for "easily," in sentences like "They handily won the game," or "He handily beat his opponents in the election." The earliest meaning of handily, dating from the 14th century, was "done by hand."

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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.

Two years later, real estate developer Rick Caruso spent more than $100 million in an effort to become Los Angeles mayor but lost handily to Karen Bass.

From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026

First-quarter adjusted earnings of $8.55 a share handily beat the $6.97 Wall Street had forecast.

From Barron's • Apr. 30, 2026

Ford Motor late Wednesday handily beat Wall Street’s quarterly earnings expectations, thanks in part to a hefty tariff refund, and powered through another loss for its EV business.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 29, 2026

Revenue rose 15% to $6.88 billion, handily beating the mean Wall Street target of $6.26 billion, according to FactSet.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026

Both varsity teams win handily against Hartwell, and the JV boys and girls squeak by.

From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen

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.