intensely
Americanadverb
-
to a high or extreme degree.
Many ingredients are rolled into this intensely flavorful and very versatile curry paste.
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(said in reference to emotions or feelings) acutely, strongly, or vehemently.
We should all be intensely angry about what is happening, and should do something besides just sitting at our computers absorbing information.
I disliked the book intensely.
-
earnestly or strenuously; in a highly engaged or involved way.
The first time I watched the documentary, all I saw was these four people talking intensely about their music.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of intensely
Explanation
Anything that happens in an extreme or profound way is done intensely, like your practice of staring intensely at your cat in an attempt to read his mind. A roaring fire burns intensely, and you'd be the first to admit that you love your dog intensely. This fierce and strong adverb works well for things that are literally or figuratively powerful, so you can study intensely for your geometry quiz or witness an intensely destructive earthquake. The Latin root, intensus, means "stretched, strained, or tight."
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.
Practitioners also say it takes extreme discipline to focus intensely for short periods.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 10, 2026
Using a technique known as Approximate Bayesian Computation, the researchers worked backward from the fossil record to estimate how far organisms spread and how intensely they competed for resources.
From Science Daily • Jun. 10, 2026
The immense buildout of AI infrastructure has created a bottleneck in this technology so the demand for ASML’s cutting-edge extreme ultra-violet machines is intensely competitive.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 8, 2026
Since the Nvidia paper, companies are ramping up their efforts much more intensely.
From Barron's • Jun. 4, 2026
Their mother stopped packing to grab both Eunjoo and Jinjoo firmly by their arms and look at them intensely.
From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh
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.
