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 Her eyes were softly defined with blended brown tones that could easily work just as well as a daytime look. — Marci Robin, Allure, 3 Nov. 2026 Sharp had worked in public relations and was also a gifted ceramics artist who created minimalistic vases and softly sloping bowls. — Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN Money, 3 Nov. 2026 Now your parent or your friend or your lover could be a thousand miles away yet softly in your ear. — Cal Revely-Calder, New Yorker, 2 Nov. 2026 For the Love Story star, whose transformation into Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy has made her something of a beauty muse in her own right, that increasingly means a softly blurred lip. — Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 30 Oct. 2026 The man is speaking softly, as if aware that, given the way the wind is today, voices could carry over the water. — Literary Hub, 28 Oct. 2026 With a softly rounded outline and romantic facets, the cut evokes the era of craftsmanship that determined a diamond’s brilliance. — Fairchild Studio, Footwear News, 24 Oct. 2026 With one leg, take a step backward, landing softly on the ball of your foot. — Sarah Stiefvater, Flow Space, 23 Oct. 2026 The Tesla soon launched itself from its position beneath the ramp's nearly horizontal ledge, executed a barrel roll in midair, and landed softly, all thanks to its SpaceX cold-gas thrusters. — Mike Wall, Space.com, 16 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for softly
  1. quietly
  2. lightly
  3. faintly
  4. gently
  5. feebly
  6. tenderly
  7. noiselessly
Adverb
  • Wittlin, a 26-year-old broadcast television technician, watched quietly as two officers fist-bumped and another looked inside his wallet.
    — Graham Hurley, CNN Money, 1 Nov. 2026
  • The answer is a poncho, a trend that quietly gained momentum this year and, in my eyes, is here to stay.
    — Julia Morlino, Travel + Leisure, 31 Oct. 2026
Definition of quietly
Adverb
  • Turn out dough onto a surface lightly dusted with rice flour or all-purpose flour; dust top of dough with flour.
    — Shilpa Uskokovic, Bon Appetit Magazine, 1 Nov. 2026
  • Harbaugh may have to tread more lightly and stick to dialing Dodds’ cell phone number this time to get a deal done.
    — Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 31 Oct. 2026
Definition of lightly
Adverb
  • Rounding out the shoe is an outsole in black and a faintly blue translucent rubber.
    — Ian Servantes, Footwear News, 26 Oct. 2026
  • The vast, faintly industrial open warehouse incorporates concrete and wood surfaces, and glass walls frame views of the al fresco crowd in the courtyard.
    — Jaclyn DeGiorgio, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of faintly
Adverb
  • Place the leaves in a bowl of cold water and gently move them around the bowl.
    — Molly Allen, Southern Living, 2 Nov. 2026
  • Bake pie until edges of filling are set and slightly puffed but center still wobbles a little when gently shaken, 40–50 minutes (filling will continue to set after baking).
    — Shilpa Uskokovic, Bon Appetit Magazine, 1 Nov. 2026
Definition of gently
Adverb
  • On the floor beside him, the dog was feebly pursuing some quarry in a dream.
    — Téa Obreht, New Yorker, 1 Nov. 2026
  • By the time Robyn joins the conversation, her bestie is on the ropes, feebly trying to insist that the entire matter is a misunderstanding.
    — Shamira Ibrahim, Vulture, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of feebly
Adverb
  • Within this supreme divine presence, each child, and every parent, as the spiritual expression of God, is tenderly fathered and mothered.
    — The Christian Science Monitor, Christian Science Monitor, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Sofia Coppola spoke tenderly about her late mother and their family’s film legacy at a BFI London Film Festival session on Thursday afternoon.
    — Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 9 Oct. 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 4 Nov. 2026.

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