Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The part of speech that modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb.
- n. Any of the words belonging to this part of speech, such as so, very, and rapidly.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In grammar, one of the indeclinable parts of speech: so called from being ordinarily joined to verbs for the purpose of limiting or extending their signification, but used also to qualify adjectives and other adverbs: as, I readily admit; you speak wisely; very cold; naturally brave; very generally acknowledged; much more clearly. Adverbs may be classified as follows: Adverbs of place and motion, as here, there, up, out, etc. Of time and succession, as now, then, often, ever, etc. Of manner and quality, as so, thus, well truly, faithfully, etc. Of measure and degree, as much, more, very, enough, etc. Of modality, as surely, not, perhaps, therefore, etc. Often abbreviated adverb
Wiktionary
- n. grammar A word that modifies a verb, adjective, other adverbs, or various other types of words, phrases, or clauses.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Gram.) A word used to modify the sense of a verb, participle, adjective, or other adverb, and usually placed near it
WordNet 3.0
- n. the word class that qualifies verbs or clauses
- n. a word that modifies something other than a noun
Etymologies
- From French adverbe, from Latin adverbium, from ad- ("to") + verbum ("word"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English adverbe, from Old French, from Latin adverbium (translation of Greek epirrhēma) : ad-, in relation to; see ad- + verbum, word, verb; see wer-5 in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Remember the definition of an adverb — “an adverb is a word used to modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.””
“Perhaps no adverb is necessary? blog comments powered by Disqus publicola nerds”
“Another flat adverb is right, which I used in the phrase read that right a few sentences ago.”
“(As a possible mnemonic, adverb is a single word and noun phrase is two words.)”
“Hyphens are reinstated if the - ly adverb is part of a longer compound: formally-agreed-upon format not-so-environmentally-friendly products”
““Ahlan” in adverb form lit. = “as one of the household”: so in the greeting “Ahlan wa Sahlan””
“The position of the adverb is crucial to the interpretation, though; if the sentence were “Obama hopefully speaks of movement on jobs bill”, I’d get the sentential meaning much more readily than the “full of hope” meaning.”
“A sentential adverb is asked to modify a sentence — instead of modifying the verb, it modifies the entire proposition — and that, we’re told, just isn’t done.”
“But I think my favorite example of a flat adverb is fast, because it’s uncontroversially an adverb, and it has no - ly version:”
“(Other examples: the claim that you shouldn’t end a sentence with a preposition, the claim that “none” takes a singular verb instead of a plural one, and the claim that “hopefully” as a disjunct adverb is nonstandard.)”
Led astray by the no-split-infinitives fetish « Motivated Grammar
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘adverb’.
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Language
word, sentence, novel, book, novella, vignette, memoir, anthology, paragraph, stanza, poem, haiku and 123 more...
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Word Words
Words that describe other words
adverb, verb, noun, adjective, pronoun, Synonym, antonym, phrase, dictionary, grammar, word, passage and 19 more...
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Linguistic terminology
phonics, phonology, morphology, morphemes, metathesis, allomorphs, phonemes, linguistics, vowel, consonant, noun, pronoun and 6 more...
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1906 Railway Cipher Code
Terms from the Standard Cipher Code of the American Railway Association, 1906. The terms were shorthand for common phrases used in telegraphic communications between station agents and Railway Asso...
abdominal, abetting, abiology, ablative, abnormal, abominate, aboveboard, abrasive, absinth, abstinent, accursed, acetate and 212 more...
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Words about words
Most of these describe word patterns or relationships between words.
panvocalic, palindrome, anagram, transposition, antigram, reversal, isogram, alternade, trinade, beheadment, decapitation, apheresis and 149 more...
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English grammar
terms relevant to English grammar
phrase, clause, sentence, complement, modifier, adjunct, specifier, constituent, syntax, bar level, supplement, coordination and 285 more...
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Permutations
There are 17576 different sequences of three letters (26 x 26 x 26). How many of them occur in words? General rules of engagement: mononyms only, lower case preferred to upper case, short preferred...
aaargh, niqaabi, Isaac, raad, baaed, haaf, laager, aah, kamaaina, Naajaat, aak, aalii and 637 more...
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linguistics
words associated with language and linguistics
subjunctive, grammar, accent, adjective, adverb, bilingual, case, conjugation, consonant, creole, dialect, diphthong and 33 more...
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Adofoadom
Grammatical terms.
pronoun, verb, noun, interjection, preposition, verbal, adverb, diction, adjective, conjunction, syntax, ornamental
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Adofoadom
Grammatical terms.
Conjunction, noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, interjection, syntax., verbal, diction and 5 more...
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Academic Writing 3
For students of sentence structure
substantive, verb, verbal, pronoun, noun, perfect, participle, preposition, modifier, adjective, adverb, connector and 18 more...
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words about words
palindrome, syllable, vowel, consonant, alphabet, vocabulary, etymology, Synonym, antonym, anagram, verb, noun and 39 more...
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melster's Words
supercalifragilis..., quell, automaton, discombobulated, dryad, neologism, ouroboros, heliotrope, surreptitiously, adverb, lackadaisical, obtuse and 7 more...
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Grammar
conjunction, interjection, preposition, adjective, noun, verb, adverb, pronoun, cumbersome, convey, sentence, gender and 5 more...
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A
abjure, abscond, abhor, acquiescent, abstruce, affect, aficionado, acolyte, abject, allegory, alterity, archimedean and 52 more...
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phej's Words
root, acquiesce, other, bliss, latinate, burst, consistent, gut, hither, tea, wilful, time and 47 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for adverb.

hernesheir Railroad telegraphers' shorthand for "Have you acted under legal advice?". --1906 US Railway Association Standard Cipher Code. Jan 19, 2013
recombinantdna master of prescription, aren't we? Jun 3, 2008
uselessness Make sure you always use adverbs correct. Jan 25, 2007