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softly

adverb

Definition of softlynext
1
as in quietly

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Dissimilar Words
2
as in lightly

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Dissimilar Words

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 softly Around me, in the nosebleeds, were a mix of children in big friend groups and softly bopping couples. — Naaman Zhou, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2026 Giannulli has the same softly layered brunette hair and delicate features, and in these images, the likeness is impossible to miss. — Daisy Maldonado, InStyle, 16 Sep. 2026 An eclectic mix of art adds personality, while cafe curtains softly filter sunlight through tall windows overlooking Johnson Square to the north and Bull Street to the west. — Colleen McNally Arnett, Southern Living, 16 Sep. 2026 There was a new moon, a thin crescent of pale light, shining softly in the sky. — Literary Hub, 15 Sep. 2026 An ingenious means of admitting natural light has been contrived so that, during the daytime, parts of these wonderfully austere and stony subterranean cellars, which ought to be very dark indeed, remain softly radiant. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 11 Sep. 2026 Isabel can sometimes be found softly singing under a mango tree, as if trying to invoke something lost. — Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2026 In the dry-down, tonka bean tempers the citrus with a creamy, softly gourmand quality that contrasts with the bright opening. — Conçetta Ciarlo, Vogue, 3 Sep. 2026 Sandra Ogbebor hunches over her softly humming refrigerator and scours through bottles before finally yanking out an orange juice. — Light Oriye Tamunotonye, Christian Science Monitor, 3 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for softly
  1. quietly
  2. lightly
  3. faintly
  4. gently
  5. feebly
  6. tenderly
  7. noiselessly
Adverb
  • The couple quietly eloped in 2025, with Rodgers deliberately keeping his new wife away from the celebrity circus that surrounded his previous relationships.
    — Lauryn Overhultz, FOXNews.com, 20 Sep. 2026
  • Big Night manages to be openly emotional and at the same time quietly but hilariously funny.
    — Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 20 Sep. 2026
Definition of quietly
Adverb
  • Fresh, plump blueberries in the salad add little bursts of sweetness, and the earthiness of lightly toasted and sliced almonds give balance to the vinegar.
    — Candy Hom, AJC.com, 20 Sep. 2026
  • The roof of another building in Gaza City caved in Friday after a brief period of rain, the local civil defense force said, lightly injuring four children.
    — Wafaa Shurafa, Los Angeles Times, 20 Sep. 2026
Definition of lightly
Adverb
  • Three hours after Thomas Jefferson died at his Monticello home on July 4, 1826, his personal secretary, Nicholas Trist, snipped a lock of the Founder’s gray hair, still faintly reddish blond.
    — Andrew Lawler, The Atlantic, 18 Sep. 2026
  • The film is Bullock’s first in four years, and critics are ever-so-faintly praising her return to the big screen.
    — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 12 Sep. 2026
Definition of faintly
Adverb
  • Combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl and mix gently to avoid squishing the avocados.
    — Candy Hom, AJC.com, 20 Sep. 2026
  • The limestone around the stadium’s perimeter gently swoops up and down in a move that recalls the gracefully curved bowl of Ryan Field’s earlier iteration.
    — Edward Keegan, Chicago Tribune, 19 Sep. 2026
Definition of gently
Adverb
  • Chief swam feebly across, joined the other two horses on the bank, and stood there shaking.
    — Dolores Brown, Outdoor Life, 17 June 2026
  • Judge lined it feebly into the glove of an outfielder.
    — Louisa Thomas, New Yorker, 17 May 2026
Definition of feebly
Adverb
  • Greene, who loves to blur the boundaries between fiction and nonfiction, uses this premise as a way to tenderly explore these people’s lives.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Léo’s tenderly nostalgic reminiscences of past love affairs are slapped down by Emma, who brusquely dismisses his pleasant recollections as mere male projection.
    — Jay Weissberg, Variety, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of tenderly
Adverb
  • Small branches can be clipped quickly and almost noiselessly and fashioned into an effective blind in only a few minutes.
    — Bruce Brady, Outdoor Life, 8 Apr. 2026
  • On a brilliant midsummer morning, my wife and I stepped into a black Zodiac raft and drifted noiselessly among icebergs five stories high, their emerald and aquamarine walls gleaming above sapphire waters.
    — Pico Iyer, Condé Nast Traveler, 17 Apr. 2025
Definition of noiselessly

Browse Nearby Words

softies
softly
softness
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Cite this Entry

“Softly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/softly. Accessed 26 Sep. 2026.

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