ˈmä-d(ə-)rət-lē
as in pretty
to some degree or extent
it was raining moderately hard outside
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of moderately
Del Mar Carmel Mountain Preserve This is a roughly 3-mile, moderately difficult hike through the preserve, exploring a semi-loop along some of the preserve’s crisscrossing trails.
—
Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Dec. 2025
In one study, adults with moderately high cholesterol ate two whole apples daily for 12 weeks.
—Brittany Lubeck, Verywell Health, 16 Dec. 2025
The American Heart Association, for example, divided ultraprocessed food into three categories — least healthy, moderately healthy and healthy.
—Sandee Lamotte, CNN Money, 14 Dec. 2025
The very high hourly rates, the richness in bright and moderately slow meteors, should motivate skywatchers to resist the cold.
—Joe Rao, Space.com, 12 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for moderately
Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Dec. 2025
In one study, adults with moderately high cholesterol ate two whole apples daily for 12 weeks.
—Brittany Lubeck, Verywell Health, 16 Dec. 2025
The American Heart Association, for example, divided ultraprocessed food into three categories — least healthy, moderately healthy and healthy.
—Sandee Lamotte, CNN Money, 14 Dec. 2025
The very high hourly rates, the richness in bright and moderately slow meteors, should motivate skywatchers to resist the cold.
—Joe Rao, Space.com, 12 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for moderately
Recent Examples of Synonyms for moderately
Adverb
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He was also named the team’s Walter Payton Man of the Year winner this year, so he’s clearly valued internally by some pretty important decision-makers.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
11 Jan. 2026
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In recent games, KU’s communication has been pretty poor on defense and that’s led to players taking (and too often missing) wide-open 3-pointers.—
Shreyas Laddha,
Kansas City Star,
10 Jan. 2026
Adverb
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Training ground facilities are relatively basic compared to those of other Spanish top-flight clubs.—
Dermot Corrigan,
New York Times,
9 Nov. 2025
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Because of the huge amount of money that’s put in front of the players and relatively weak fields, the opportunity to make a lot of money is very, very clear.—
Devlina Sarkar,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Nov. 2025
Adverb
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Everything was really incorrect for the period—shiny, sparkly, overdone—but the actual shapes and silhouettes of his clothes are quite accurate.—
Radhika Seth,
Vogue,
10 Jan. 2026
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But the Panthers were also quite consistent in some ways.—
Alex Zietlow,
Charlotte Observer,
9 Jan. 2026
Adverb
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But the reality for him, fairly or unfairly, is that if some of the habits persist, the smoke may turn to fire as the season progresses.—
Scott Wheeler,
New York Times,
9 Nov. 2025
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Still, this technology requires careful attention to bias by ensuring AI agents recognize diverse communication patterns fairly and accurately, rather than embedding harmful assumptions.—
Rachel Curry,
CNBC,
8 Nov. 2025
Adverb
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The press conference was somewhat unusual, given that the incident had no connection to Philadelphia whatsoever.—
Washington Examiner Staff,
The Washington Examiner,
9 Jan. 2026
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The scope of the effort is almost incomprehensible, both for its sheer size and persistence on a low-lying peninsula, where the delineation between land and sea has always been somewhat unclear and is becoming less so.—
Amy Green,
Miami Herald,
9 Jan. 2026
Adverb
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This character of aberrance is what makes accidental surfing deaths seem inevitable—or, rather, inexorable, built into the subway’s force.—
Doreen St. Félix,
New Yorker,
8 Nov. 2025
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The lack of competition means the greatest fear many lawmakers have is not the prospect of losing to the other party in a general election but rather being snuffed out in a primary by a more ideological and extreme challenger.—
Mark Z. Barabak,
Mercury News,
8 Nov. 2025
Adverb
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Researchers also highlighted that the next key step will be to determine whether Enceladus’ ocean has existed long enough for life to develop.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
10 Nov. 2025
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Simple enough for a weeknight dinner and impressive enough for a holiday get together, this baked fennel deserves a permanent spot in your recipe box.—
Stephanie Ganz,
Southern Living,
9 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Moderately.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/moderately. Accessed 11 Jan. 2026.
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