softly

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“
She spoke his name softly, and trembling very much with joy, not with any fear, but it seemed to her too sacred a thing ever to utter aloud An old man looked out of a den by the door, and told her to go straight up the stairs to the third floor, and then turn to the right.

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Definitions (10)

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  1. Soft; easy; gentle; slow. The gentle Prince not farre away they spyde, Ryding a softly pace with portance sad. Spenser, F. Q., VI. vii. 6.
  2. In a soft manner. Without force or violence; gently: as, he softly pressed my hand. Not loudly; without noise; as, speak softly; walk softly. And seide ful softly in shrifte as it were. Piers Plowman (B), iii. 37. In this dark silence softly leave the Town. Dryden, Indian Emperor, iii. 1.
  3. Gently; slowly; calmly; quietly; hence, at an easy pace: as, to lay a thing down softly. His bowe he toke in hand toward the deere to stalke; Y prayed hym his shote to leue & softely with me to walke. Babees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 118. He commaunded certaine Captaines to stay behinde, and to row softly after him. North, tr. of Plutarch, p. 178.
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Examples (50)

  • Whispered words of love in her ear as she screamed his name softly, over and over again, on a long-drawn out sigh, until at last she sank against him, spent and shivering. —  TheFrenchCount’sPregnantBride
  • He heard the women off in the other part of the hut chattering softly, and outside, the quietness of the village by night. —  Clavell - King Rat
  • Presently I heard the spinet playing softly, and the words of that air came out of my heart from long ago Love me little, love me long, Is the burthen of my song. —  Richard Carvel
  • The outline keened softly, a soul held in an immaterial cage of fire. —  Ann Maxwell - Fire Dancer 1 - Fire Dancer (v1.0)
  • He whimpered Meg's name softly, then his attention was attracted down the corridor to the white room. —  Astounding Stories June, 1935
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This word has been looked up 17 times.

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from soft + -ly.
  2. from Middle English softly, softely, softeli, softefiche; from soft + -ly.
 

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