mightily
Americanadverb
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in a mighty manner; powerfully or vigorously.
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to a great extent or degree; very much.
to desire something mightily.
adverb
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to a great extent, amount, or degree
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with might; powerfully or vigorously
Usage
What does mightily mean? Mightily means with might—great strength or power. To do something mightily is to do it in a strong or powerful way. Mightily is the adverb form of the adjective mighty, which means extremely strong (as in a mighty warrior) or powerful (as in a mighty king). Sometimes, mighty is used as a very informal way of saying very or extremely, and mightily can be used in a similar way to mean very or very much, as in I’m mightily impressed. This use of mightily can sound a bit old-fashioned or folksy. Example: He ruled mightily, and his empire extended to the ends of the earth.
Etymology
Origin of mightily
before 900; Middle English; Old English mihtiglīce. See mighty, -ly
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.
No, multiple academics have attempted to decipher the meaning behind the mightily adorable meow of the domestic house cat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
Cal Raleigh has struggled mightily in the encore to his 2025, when he put up one of MLB’s greatest ever offensive seasons.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
It’s a stalemate that even a clever strategist would struggle mightily to resolve, and there is no evidence that Vance is an especially strategic thinker.
From Salon ● Apr. 27, 2026
Over the course of a draining season, Howe has pivoted from Woltemade to Wissa to Anthony Gordon and now Osula, who came mightily close to joining Eintracht Frankfurt on deadline day last September.
From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2026
The smell and taste of the bacon had stimulated his appetite mightily, and he was still hungry.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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.
