SOFTLY Synonyms: 73 Similar and Opposite Words

softly

adverb

Definition of softly

as in quietly

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

as in lightly

Related Words

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

Adverb

Saudi Arabia has been quietly building an electric vehicle brand for the last four years, and it's just revealed the first cars from its portfolio.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 26 Sep. 2026
And yet liminality is the space where real healing and most of life happens—where, quietly and unexpectedly, the real work and magic unfold.

— Stefanie Benjamin, Travel + Leisure, 26 Sep. 2026

Definition of quietly

Adverb

Season two goes a little differently than season one, because the music exec in charge of casting the show (Ashley Padilla) is being lightly blackmailed by two … unique candidates (Jane Wickline and new cast member Grace Reiter).

— Bethy Squires, Vulture, 27 Sep. 2026
But, when Dovner questioned him lightly about the details, the man’s infectious laughter made Gleb even more convinced that such trifles were hardly worth mentioning at all.

— Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, New Yorker, 27 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

If freezing after browning, let the meatballs cool completely before freezing the same way, then thaw and rewarm gently in a low oven before adding them to the pan.

— Maggie Meyer Glisan, Better Homes & Gardens, 27 Sep. 2026
These lightweight compression socks gently squeeze the feet and calves in order to improve blood circulation, reduce swelling, and prevent pain.

— Olivia Young, Travel + Leisure, 27 Sep. 2026

Definition of gently

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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“Softly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/softly. Accessed 29 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of softly

adverb

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