1
: in or to a high place, level, or rank
2
: in or to a high degree or amount
3
: with approval : favorably
Synonyms
- achingly
- almighty
- archly
- awful
- awfully
- badly
- beastly
- blisteringly
- bone
- colossally
- corking
- cracking
- damn
- damned
- dang
- deadly
- desperately
- eminently
- enormously
- especially
- ever
- exceedingly
- exceeding
- extra
- extremely
- fabulously
- fantastically
- far
- fiercely
- filthy
- frightfully
- full
- greatly
- heavily
- hugely
- immensely
- incredibly
- intensely
- jolly
- majorly
- mightily
- mighty
- monstrous [chiefly dialect]
- mortally
- most
- much
- particularly
- passing
- rattling
- real
- really
- right
- roaring
- roaringly
- seriously
- severely
- so
- sore
- sorely
- spanking
- specially
- stinking
- such
- super
- supremely
- surpassingly
- terribly
- that
- thumping
- too
- unco
- uncommonly
- vastly
- very
- vitally
- way
- whacking
- wicked
- wildly
Examples of highly in a Sentence
She is one of the most highly respected journalists in the country.
though she didn't win, she was highly satisfied with her personal results for the marathon
Recent Examples on the Web
The Marion County Health Department on Friday warned Hoosiers about a possible exposure to measles after a person infected with the highly contagious illness joined thousands of people April 8 at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis during a solar eclipse event.
—
The Indianapolis Star, 22 Apr. 2024
Nacua, who enjoyed a record-setting rookie season in 2023, said last week that the first week of workouts with the highly motivated Kupp were the toughest.
—Gary Klein, Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2024
President’s campaign strategy highly visible, his challenger’s difficult to detect
With seven months to go until the presidential election, the voter outreach strategies between the Biden-Harris and Trump campaigns in Nevada are looking different.
—Jessica Hill Las Vegas Review-Journal (tns), arkansasonline.com, 22 Apr. 2024
Women were ostensibly imbued with a significant choice in this regard, yet this choice was highly circumscribed.
—TIME, 22 Apr. 2024
To be sure, there are very significant, highly global sectors in France where French executives still have a stranglehold on the top jobs — especially when they are family controlled — like the luxury industry.
—Albertina Torsoli, Fortune, 22 Apr. 2024
Niche said its public schools were highly rated and its median home value and rent was far below the national median.
—The Arizona Republic, 22 Apr. 2024
Most importantly, the highly sophisticated algorithms employed by social media companies already have the ability to determine the age of their users.
—Nancy Magee, Orange County Register, 20 Apr. 2024
Set in modern-day Los Angeles, Sugar chronicles the empathetic yet highly dangerous private investigator, John Sugar (Colin Farrell), and his latest case involving the missing granddaughter (Sydney Chandler) of a legendary Hollywood producer named Jonathan Siegel (James Cromwell).
—Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Apr. 2024
The Indianapolis Star, 22 Apr. 2024
Nacua, who enjoyed a record-setting rookie season in 2023, said last week that the first week of workouts with the highly motivated Kupp were the toughest.
—Gary Klein, Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2024
President’s campaign strategy highly visible, his challenger’s difficult to detect
With seven months to go until the presidential election, the voter outreach strategies between the Biden-Harris and Trump campaigns in Nevada are looking different.
—Jessica Hill Las Vegas Review-Journal (tns), arkansasonline.com, 22 Apr. 2024
Women were ostensibly imbued with a significant choice in this regard, yet this choice was highly circumscribed.
—TIME, 22 Apr. 2024
To be sure, there are very significant, highly global sectors in France where French executives still have a stranglehold on the top jobs — especially when they are family controlled — like the luxury industry.
—Albertina Torsoli, Fortune, 22 Apr. 2024
Niche said its public schools were highly rated and its median home value and rent was far below the national median.
—The Arizona Republic, 22 Apr. 2024
Most importantly, the highly sophisticated algorithms employed by social media companies already have the ability to determine the age of their users.
—Nancy Magee, Orange County Register, 20 Apr. 2024
Set in modern-day Los Angeles, Sugar chronicles the empathetic yet highly dangerous private investigator, John Sugar (Colin Farrell), and his latest case involving the missing granddaughter (Sydney Chandler) of a legendary Hollywood producer named Jonathan Siegel (James Cromwell).
—Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'highly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near highly
Cite this Entry
“Highly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/highly. Accessed 25 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
highly
adverb
high·ly
ˈhī-lē 
1
: very entry 2 sense 1, extremely
highly pleased
2
: with approval
speaks highly of you
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share