: to a very great or vast degree or extent : exceedingly
two people with vastly different tastes
a vastly more powerful bomb
But bluff and bravado … won against potential enemies who vastly outnumbered him.—
David Gilmour
David GilmourIt was the most eclectic—yet also vastly entertaining—evening of dance I have seen in a long time.—Rita Felciano
Rita Felciano
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
- highly
- 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
- very
- vitally
- way
- whacking
- wicked
- wildly
Examples of vastly in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The states, and their Latino populations, are vastly different.
—Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times, 16 Nov. 2023
More than two decades separate DeSantis' critical comments from the yearbook photo, and both men have undertaken vastly different trajectories in the intervening years.
—Olivia Rubin, ABC News, 14 Nov. 2023
By bouncing a stream of thousands of questions off a server, the hacker could bombard the victim with its responses and vastly multiply their attack’s firepower.
Josiah, fascinated by the cleverness of those tricks, was naturally determined to understand them at their deepest level.
—Andy Greenberg, WIRED, 14 Nov. 2023
Shrubs of the chaparral have vastly different needs from those located in a central oak woodland or northern coastal scrub, so look up your personalized plant community online by Zip Code to identify the key plants that will take to your area with ease.
—Kristin Guy, Sunset Magazine, 14 Nov. 2023
As scholars of comparative politics would agree, different religions largely produce different cultures which beget different values, with those different values producing sometimes vastly different political outcomes and institutions.
—Bradley Gitz, arkansasonline.com, 13 Nov. 2023
In the first half century of his career, Robert Jay Lifton published five books based on long-term studies of seemingly vastly different topics.
—Masha Gessen, The New Yorker, 12 Nov. 2023
Beijing and Washington take vastly different approaches to Israel’s war in Gaza and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
—Chris Massaro, Fox News, 11 Nov. 2023
In Kentucky, Dem Gov. Andy Beshear has been riding on being the incumbent, vastly outspending GOP opponent Daniel Cameron over the airwaves in a state Donald Trump carried by nearly 26 points in 2020.
—Mark Murray, NBC News, 7 Nov. 2023
See More
Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times, 16 Nov. 2023
More than two decades separate DeSantis' critical comments from the yearbook photo, and both men have undertaken vastly different trajectories in the intervening years.
—Olivia Rubin, ABC News, 14 Nov. 2023
By bouncing a stream of thousands of questions off a server, the hacker could bombard the victim with its responses and vastly multiply their attack’s firepower.
Josiah, fascinated by the cleverness of those tricks, was naturally determined to understand them at their deepest level.
—Andy Greenberg, WIRED, 14 Nov. 2023
Shrubs of the chaparral have vastly different needs from those located in a central oak woodland or northern coastal scrub, so look up your personalized plant community online by Zip Code to identify the key plants that will take to your area with ease.
—Kristin Guy, Sunset Magazine, 14 Nov. 2023
As scholars of comparative politics would agree, different religions largely produce different cultures which beget different values, with those different values producing sometimes vastly different political outcomes and institutions.
—Bradley Gitz, arkansasonline.com, 13 Nov. 2023
In the first half century of his career, Robert Jay Lifton published five books based on long-term studies of seemingly vastly different topics.
—Masha Gessen, The New Yorker, 12 Nov. 2023
Beijing and Washington take vastly different approaches to Israel’s war in Gaza and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
—Chris Massaro, Fox News, 11 Nov. 2023
In Kentucky, Dem Gov. Andy Beshear has been riding on being the incumbent, vastly outspending GOP opponent Daniel Cameron over the airwaves in a state Donald Trump carried by nearly 26 points in 2020.
—Mark Murray, NBC News, 7 Nov. 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'vastly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1598, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near vastly
Cite this Entry
“Vastly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vastly. Accessed 28 Nov. 2023.
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