Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adverb With little weight or force; gently.
- adverb To a slight extent or amount.
- adverb With little difficulty; easily.
- adverb With agility and grace; nimbly.
- adverb In a carefree manner; cheerfully.
- adverb Without sufficient care or consideration; indifferently.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To make light of; slight; disparage. Also
lichtly . - Not heavily; with little weight or force; not oppressively or severely: as, to tread lightly; to punish lightly; his cares sit lightly upon him.
- With little effort; without difficulty; easily.
- Without good reason; upon slight grounds; readily.
- With little regard; slightingly; indifferently.
- Parsimoniously; niggardly.
- Without deliberation; heedlessly; inconsiderately.
- In a light-hearted manner; cheerfully; cheerily; airily; with levity.
- With agility; nimbly; quickly.
- Commonly; usually.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adverb With little weight; with little force
- adverb Swiftly; nimbly; with agility.
- adverb Without deep impression.
- adverb In a small degree; slightly; not severely.
- adverb With little effort or difficulty; easily; readily.
- adverb Without reason, or for reasons of little weight.
- adverb obsolete Commonly; usually.
- adverb Without dejection; cheerfully.
- adverb Without heed or care; with levity; gayly; airily.
- adverb Not chastely; wantonly.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adverb In a
light manner.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adverb with indifference or without dejection
- adverb indulging with temperance
- adverb with little weight or force
- adverb in a small quantity or extent
- adverb with few burdens
- adverb without good reason
- adverb to a slight degree
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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I use the term lightly when it comes to Daniel, Noelle clarified, munching on some greens.
Paradise Lost Kate Brian 2009
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I use the term lightly when it comes to Daniel, Noelle clarified, munching on some greens.
Paradise Lost Kate Brian 2009
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The latest celebrity and we use the term lightly to take nude pics for PETA is Brooke Hogan, who unveiled the photos with the help of her father, Hulk Hogan, at the Women In Cages exhibit in Miami.
News - latimes.com Carina MacKenzie 2011
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When I think of all the mediocrity in an area of expensive real estate like the City of London, and think how little a genius like Jan – and I don't use the term lightly – saw built in his lifetime, you can't help but think two things: one, the dice are loaded against great architecture; two: work harder.
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Madam — and I use the term lightly — would you happen to have a loaded Glock concealed between those rolls of gut, or breasts, or whatever you want to call them?
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This is, and I don't use the term lightly, awesome.
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Just goes to show that you and your "boys" and I use the term lightly will never win anything and will always be on the sidelines.
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There are no words for how relieved I am that I'm not the only person who saw that 'hamburger' I use the term lightly! and thought "zomgFrogger"!
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Yes the very same companies to which our government (from here on out, I will use the term lightly, as it doesn't seem able to "govern" anything!) took the liberty of bailing out, along WITH AIG ...
AIG, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and Others...The Circle of Financial Life 2009
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Hmmmm. Halperin is reporting (and I use the term lightly, of course) that both Biden and Bayh are speaking on Wednesday.
Bayh: I Don't Remember Ever Joining Committee For The Liberation Of Iraq 2009
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