highly

adverb

high·​ly ˈhī-lē 

1

: in or to a high place, level, or rank

2

: in or to a high degree or amount

3

: with approval : favorably

Synonyms of highly

• extremely
• very
• incredibly
• terribly
• too
• so
• badly
• severely
• really
• damn
• damned
• intensely
• heavily
• seriously
• most

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 pair divorced two years later, though Presley continued to speak highly of the relationship, especially after his 2009 death, and until her own in 2023. — Taijuan Moorman, USA Today, 3 July 2026

New reads abound for your vacation tote throughout the weeks of July, with fiction picks featuring a Carnival cruise casualty, a highly entertaining jewel heist at the Waldorf-Astoria, and a Soviet-era madcap adventure. — Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times, 2 July 2026

This industrial cluster contributes around £12 billion annually to the UK economy and supports more than 41,000 highly skilled jobs across approximately 4,500 specialist engineering and technology businesses. — Kate Hardcastle, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026

It's powered by a highly capable six-core AMD Ryzen 5 220 processor and a fairly powerful Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 graphics chip for smooth gameplay. — Kelsey Fogarty, PC Magazine, 2 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing highly

• highly strung
• highly superior autobiographical memory

Rhymes for highly

• dryly
• kiley
• shyly
• slyly
• smiley
• wily
• wryly

Kids Definition

highly

adverb

high·​ly ˈhī-lē 

1

: very entry 2 sense 1, extremely

highly pleased

2

: with approval

speaks highly of you