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; see slow ( def. ), -ly ( def. )
Explanation
When you take a long, long time to do something, you act slowly. And when things move at a low speed, they go slowly, like the storm clouds that slowly roll in during your school picnic. A new driver tends to drive slowly, foot just barely pressing the gas pedal, just as someone learning a new language often speaks slowly, taking extra time to choose the right words. You may have also noticed that time seems to move slowly when you're doing something incredibly boring. In all of these cases, the adverb slowly describes something occurring at a low speed.
Vocabulary lists containing slowly
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.
Near her Devon home, flowers are now propped against a "Please drive slowly" sign.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
As the afternoon wears on, the wind begins to fade and the kites slowly drift back to earth.
From Barron's ● Jul. 11, 2026
It is not a place crowded with abandoned good intentions, freezer-burned stock bones or half-used bags of vegetables slowly turning into gravel.
From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026
The big studios slowly learned the art of the franchise blockbuster while the independent sector flourished.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
Everything was moving too fast and everything was going so slowly that I lived a whole lifetime in that moment.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
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.
