intimately

[in-tuh-mit-lee]

adverb

1. in a way that entails, assumes, or suggests a close, warm, trusting personal relationship.

   He was quick to rebuke others, but only those he knew intimately and loved dearly.

   Churchill spoke intimately and easily over the wireless to his own people during the war.

2. in a way that arises from long or frequent direct personal experience.

   Cycling acquaints you intimately with every bump, slice, crease, divot, ledge, ripple, and pothole in a street.

3. in a way that affords or encourages privacy, coziness, closeness of interaction, etc..

   The small tables are so that people can converse more intimately, even among a larger group.

   The beautifully renovated 150-seat theater offers an intimately scaled setting with state-of-the-art acoustics.

4. in a way that involves a close union or connection.

   Many of the ailments seen in the inpatient service are intimately linked to the malnutrition plaguing the region.

5. in a way that involves or suggests sex.

   Posts must not contain name-calling, profanity, or intimately explicit material.

   Chlamydia is an intimately transmitted infection.

6. in a deep and detailed way.

   Her letters and journals reveal a woman intimately involved in the day-to-day happenings of the school.

7. in the innermost depths of one’s mind or heart.

   It has given me an opportunity to share ideas, thoughts, and intimately held beliefs with others equally interested in deeper questions.

8. next to the skin, as underclothing, wigs, etc..

   Please read our exchange policy carefully; these are quality garments that are worn intimately and hence cannot be exchanged or returned.

Word History and Origins

Origin of intimately¹

intimate ¹ ( def. ) + -ly

Example Sentences

As a CEO in the old Silicon Valley mold—an engineer who intimately knows the technology she’s selling—Su is deftly navigating challenges that have tripped up other tech-industry leaders.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Brown’s sister, Nancy Gebhard, said he had a way of making scripture accessible, even to those who weren’t intimately familiar with the Bible.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

He’s Allen’s half-brother and his first quarterback, so he’s intimately familiar with what the football world now knows: never underestimate No. 13.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

What’s more, they’re intimately knowledgeable of history, able to yank references from the past and stress their pertinence to our present.

Read more on Salon

“It’s so fun adapting your own book because you already know it so deeply and intimately. It’s like you’re just thinking about your favorite parts,” Henry said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• informally 
• personally