vastly

adverb

vast·​ly ˈvast-lē How to pronounce vastly (audio)
: 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
It was the most eclectic—yet also vastly entertaining—evening of dance I have seen in a long time.Rita Felciano

Examples of vastly in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The best-case scenario, Grace said, would be that A.I. turns out to be like the Large Hadron Collider, a particle accelerator in Switzerland whose risk of creating a world-swallowing black hole turned out to be vastly overblown. Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024 Such was the theme of the last eight days at Crypto, the most compelling stretch of the season, during which the Lakers went 3-2 in vastly different games against similarly gifted playoff teams. Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 11 Mar. 2024 In his second term, Jefferson acquired the Louisiana Territory from France, vastly increasing U.S. territory. Jeff Sommer, New York Times, 8 Mar. 2024 It is focused on disadvantaged communities and operates on a vastly smaller scale. Ari Plachta, Sacramento Bee, 7 Mar. 2024 The restaurants and bars all over the valley have been vastly expanding along with the cocktail culture, and has gone from a sleepy town that would shut down around 10PM to having lots of fun options for a night out downtown. Noël Burgess, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024 In June 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision, struck down a massive $430 billion student loan forgiveness program initiated by the Biden administration, ruling the program vastly exceeded the authority Congress delegated to the executive branch. Detroit Free Press, 23 Feb. 2024 To vastly oversimplify the problem: Streaming generates a fraction of the money that physical music products like CDs and vinyl do. Jem Aswad, Variety, 22 Feb. 2024 With another Trump-Biden contest increasingly solidified, voters are once again comparing two leading candidates who are vastly different, both ideologically and politically. Desirée Leclercq, Fortune, 28 Feb. 2024

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of vastly was in 1598

Dictionary Entries Near vastly

Cite this Entry

“Vastly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vastly. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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