minutely
1 Americanadjective
adverb
adverb
adjective
adverb
Etymology
Origin of minutely1
First recorded in 1590–1600; minute 1 + -ly
Origin of minutely2
Explanation
Do something minutely and you'll do it in an attentive or meticulous, careful way. If you minutely edit your English paper, you'll be sure to catch every last mistake. A detective might investigate a crime minutely, examining every possible clue in an intent way. Minutely can also modify an adjective, as in a minutely detailed news report or a minutely precise dollhouse version of Buckingham Palace. At the root of minutely is the Latin minutus, "little, small, or minute."
Vocabulary lists containing minutely
Grendel
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"My English" and "How I Learned English"
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Around the World in Eighty Days
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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.
David rapidly translated his Roman experiences into a personal narrative style that distills physical action into a minutely detailed frozen moment.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 29, 2025
For those who weren’t there to close deals, the fair offered the opportunity to map out the minutely graded power structure of the publishing industry.
From New York Times • Mar. 15, 2024
However, the quantum noise that lurks inside the vacuum tubes that encase LIGO's laser beams can alter the timing of the photons in the beams by minutely small amounts.
From Science Daily • Oct. 23, 2023
His remarks were widely condemned and, in summing up, the coroner said that "the conspiracy theory advanced by Mohamed Fayed has been minutely examined and shown to be without any substance".
From BBC • Sep. 1, 2023
They are gracefully wrought, each one worked with the same intricate, almost obsessive detail, from hilt to crossbar to minutely etched blade.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
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.
