1
as in quietly
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2
as in lightly
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of softly
Dewey-eyed and softly singing, audience members called out for the same.
—
Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 6 Nov. 2025
Crawford, on the other hand, touted Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show bombshell hair; her honey-brown highlights softly waved and parted over the right side of her head.
—Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 3 Nov. 2025
Spanberger softly condemned Jones’s violent rhetoric but declined to distance herself from him.
—David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 30 Oct. 2025
Chip heeled tight to my left, his ears laid back, whining softly.
—Joel M. Vance, Outdoor Life, 29 Oct. 2025
My hair was softly curled, and my face was expertly sculpted with a breathable base that still allowed my skin to shine through.
—Brianna J. Heath, Essence, 27 Oct. 2025
Horn speaks softly, but says a lot.
—Ray Mark Rinaldi, Denver Post, 27 Oct. 2025
As Rissa emerged from the chapel and began to walk down the aisle during the ceremony, a harpist and choir sang softly in the background, adding to the already emotional atmosphere.
—Luke Chinman, PEOPLE, 24 Oct. 2025
This image captures the Rubin Observatory beneath a dazzling sweep of the southern Milky Way galaxy, with the Large Magellanic Cloud glowing softly to the left.
—Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 24 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for softly
Adverb
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Amazon quietly discounted dozens of top picks from Stewart’s collection, including Dutch ovens, knife sets, oven mitts, and more, with prices starting at just $8 and discounts going for up to 60 percent off.—
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The prose looks polished, charts look clean, and a single percentage point buried in the model quietly pushes the decision in a different direction.—
Adverb
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Cook until just tender and lightly browned, 5 minutes.—
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Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt and ground pepper.—
Adverb
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The fireball expands rapidly, rippling through the air as emergency sirens wail faintly in the distance.—
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Remember to be patient as auroras may arrive in quiet bursts, glowing faintly before becoming vibrant waves of color.—
Adverb
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Their study suggests that slow, orderly streams of cool gas already inside the galaxy—or delivered by interactions with nearby galaxies—may be quietly feeding central black holes, allowing those black holes to gently shut down star formation without blowing the galaxy apart.—
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Brake gently as needed - Brake normally if the vehicle has anti-lock brakes and pump brakes gently if in an older vehicle.—
Adverb
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One man aboard the boat knew how to navigate the mangroves and sandbars of the keys, and with the late summer sun beating down on the rafters, the boat pushed out feebly into the open ocean.—
Adverb
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Incredibly, Joel takes a seat and begins to tenderly tickle the ivories.—
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Stay in a Historic Inn A short walk up the road is The 1910 Inn, an aqua- and eggplant-hued historic Queen Anne home that fourth-generation local Annie Samarkos has tenderly restored into a bed-and-breakfast and event venue.—
Cite this Entry
“Softly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/softly. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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