slowly
Americanadverb
Usage
What is a basic definition of slowly? Slowly is used when something is happening in a slow manner or in a way that lacks speed or quickness.Slowly is the adverb form of the word slow, which describes something as lacking speed. If you walk slowly, for example, you are not moving quickly. Things that happen slowly take much longer to occur than things that happen quickly.
- Real-life examples: Sloths, snails, and turtles move very slowly. For safety, it is a good idea to drive slowly past schools or construction sites. For most people, time moves slowly when they are bored, at school, or at work.
- Used in a sentence: She picked up the broken glass slowly and carefully.
Commonly Confused
See slow.
Etymology
Origin of slowly
First recorded in 1310–50; Middle English slawliche, slawly; slow ( def. ), -ly ( def. )
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.
He seemed to have won his war, and was being slowly rehabilitated by Saudi Arabia and the Arab League when he was faced at the end of 2024 with a well organised rebel offensive.
From BBC
I took a deep breath and let the air out slowly.
From Literature
Nevertheless, the report states that value for money is slowly returning to the London property market after a decade of below-average growth.
Maybe this is a simple result of traveling more slowly and closer to the ground.
From Los Angeles Times
In the final coup de théâtre, a black-and-white environment slowly transforms into a brilliantly green, leafy tree as Ana’s choked syllables become the “I” that her father forbade her to use.
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.
