hotly

adverb

hot·​ly ˈhät-lē How to pronounce hotly (audio)
: in a hot manner
a hotly contested series

Examples of hotly in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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The detective’s version of what Troy said that afternoon, however, would in time be hotly contested. Literary Hub, 28 Jan. 2026 Just last week, researchers hotly debated the thoroughness of the contamination testing at Palisades Charter High School’s campus. Tony Briscoe, Los Angeles Times, 28 Jan. 2026 Although those claims are hotly contested, R1’s debut sent markets reeling and frissons through Silicon Valley. Charlie Campbell, Time, 27 Jan. 2026 More and more brutal evidence of the Iranian regime’s crackdown on its own people is circulating online, as the true number of those killed in Iran’s protests remains hotly contested amid internet blackouts and state intimidation. Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 26 Jan. 2026 See All Example Sentences for hotly

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of hotly was before the 12th century

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Cite this Entry

“Hotly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hotly. Accessed 3 Feb. 2026.

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