intensely

adverb

1
as in hard
with great effort or determination struggled intensely to master the language of her adopted country

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in extremely
to a great degree the senate race was intensely close

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of intensely But monitoring compliance has grown intensely urgent following Russia’s 2022 launch of the suspicious Cosmos 2553 satellite. — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 8 July 2026 Trump has a yearslong record of intensely personal criticism of the Obamas, and of using incendiary, sometimes racist, rhetoric. — Will Weissert, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2026 The previous July, Washington intensely pursued free agent forward Nikolaj Ehlers, who signed a six-year, $51 million deal with Carolina. — Barry Svrluga, New York Times, 6 July 2026 The intensely private Korean shipping tycoon rocked the tanker industry early this year as his Sinokor Group embarked on an unprecedented buying spree. — Weilun Soon, Fortune, 5 July 2026 Americans are deeply divided and intensely polarized, with pessimism at or near a multidecade high. — Peter Wehner, The Atlantic, 4 July 2026 Not only have the number and size of fires grown in recent decades, but fires are burning hotter and more intensely now, and causing more lasting damage to forests. — Paul Rogers, Mercury News, 3 July 2026 The higher dose would more intensely target the mast cell burden that was still quite high and thus improve symptoms. — Shannon Dingey, Health, 1 July 2026 Listening for survivors requires near-total silence, and time is running out more than three days after the two intensely destructive earthquakes and hundreds of aftershocks. — Gonzalo Zegarra, CNN Money, 29 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for intensely
  1. hard
  2. extremely
  3. intensively
  4. incredibly
  5. intently
  6. very
  7. diligently
  8. terribly
Adverb
  • Pushing too hard is a fast route to overuse injuries and trail burnout, and neither one gets you to the terminus.
    — Hanna Wickes, Kansas City Star, 13 July 2026
  • Others will argue, reasonably, that no other commercial industry staffs onboard physicians on most routes, and that the infrequency of serious events makes dedicated medical staffing hard to justify economically.
    — Sriman Swarup, STAT, 13 July 2026
Definition of hard
Adverb
  • Be vigilant about never leaving young children and pets in vehicles without supervision, especially during periods of intense heat, as car interiors can quickly become extremely hot.
    — CA Weather Bot, Sacbee.com, 14 July 2026
  • Surveillance of a suspect can take hours or days, and is extremely resource-intensive.
    — Caroll Alvarado, CNN Money, 14 July 2026
Definition of extremely
Adverb
  • The lower mowing ranges are commonly used for recreational turf areas that are more intensively managed.
    — Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 25 June 2026
  • One big concern is that screens are intensively stimulating for young people because they are held up close and engage young viewers with things such as fast cuts and colors.
    — CNN Money, CNN Money, 4 June 2026
Definition of intensively
Adverb
  • The senior-citizen ballers, whose core lineup still incredibly includes Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards, may even take things on the road.
    — Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 14 July 2026
  • Graham and his sister shared an incredibly close relationship.
    — Oren Oppenheim, ABC News, 13 July 2026
Definition of incredibly
Adverb
  • Thoughts, memories and reactions can surface quickly, and listening intently will be easier said than done.
    — Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 9 July 2026
  • At the same time, Miles starts to notice a presence in his pictures, a woman in a raincoat (Kate Dickie) staring intently into the camera.
    — Damon Wise, Deadline, 6 July 2026
Definition of intently
Adverb
  • Dior presented its Diorissima collection at Villa Dior, a space dedicated to Dior’s very important customers (VICs).
    — Laure Guilbault, Vogue, 10 July 2026
  • The stewards of the forest About 100 miles northwest of the Tahoe Basin, lower down in the foothills, survivors of the epic 2018 Camp fire that destroyed the town of Paradise have a very different relationship with forest stewards.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 9 July 2026
Definition of very
Adverb
  • Stand out by being fast when others are slow, following up diligently after meetings, and demonstrating initiative.
    — Jason Walker PsyD, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
  • Just be sure to diligently shop around for accounts before making a decision, as even minor interest rate differences among banks can add up to substantial earnings differences over time.
    — Matt Richardson, CBS News, 11 June 2026
Definition of diligently
Adverb
  • The reputations of our decent and hard-working journalists were terribly impugned, and today they have been exonerated.
    — K.J. Yossman, Variety, 7 July 2026
  • Your assumption of my competence, while gracious, would be terribly misguided.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 July 2026
Definition of terribly

Browse Nearby Words

intense
intensely
intenseness
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Intensely.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/intensely. Accessed 14 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on intensely

Nglish: Translation of intensely for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of yaw

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 10
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
banana-mirrored
Contradictory Words Quiz Pick out which word means one thing…and the opp...
See All