Word Study
lightly
CIDE DICTIONARY
lightly, adv.
- With little weight; with little force; as, to tread lightly; to press lightly. [1913 Webster]"Yet shall thy grave with rising flowers be drest,
And the green turf lie lightly on thy breast." [1913 Webster]"Him thus intent Ithuriel with his spear
Touched lightly." [1913 Webster] - Swiftly; nimbly; with agility. [1913 Webster]"So mikle was that barge, it might not lightly sail." [1913 Webster]"Watch what thou seest and lightly bring me word." [1913 Webster]
- Without deep impression. [1913 Webster]"The soft ideas of the cheerful note,
Lightly received, were easily forgot." [1913 Webster] - In a small degree; slightly; not severely. [1913 Webster]"At the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun . . . and afterward did more grievously afflict her." [1913 Webster]
- With little effort or difficulty; easily; readily. [1913 Webster]"That lightly come, shall lightly go." [1913 Webster]"They come lightly by the malt, and need not spare it." [1913 Webster]
- Without reason, or for reasons of little weight. [1913 Webster]"Flatter not the rich, neither do thou willingly or lightly appear before great personages." [1913 Webster]
- Commonly; usually. Bp. Fisher. [1913 Webster]"The great thieves of a state are lightly the officers of the crown." [1913 Webster]
- Without dejection; cheerfully. Shak. [1913 Webster]
- Without heed or care; with levity; gayly; airily. [1913 Webster]"Matrimony . . . is not by any to be enterprised, nor taken in hand, unadvisedly, lightly, or wantonly." [1913 Webster]
- Not chastely; wantonly. Swift. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
lightly, adv. in a light (esp. frivolous or unserious) manner.
Idiom
get off lightly escape with little or no punishment. take lightly not be serious about (a thing).
THESAURUS
lightly
a bit, a little, airily, arbitrarily, barely, blithely, by a hair, by an ace, capriciously, cheerfully, cheerily, easily, effortlessly, ever so little, exiguously, facilely, faintly, fancifully, feebly, flightily, freely, frivolously, genially, gladly, hands down, happily, hardly, hopefully, idly, immaterially, imperfectly, inadvertently, inappreciably, inconsequentially, insignificantly, irrepressibly, jauntily, joyfully, just a bit, like clockwork, like nothing, little, meagerly, minimally, minutely, negligently, negligibly, no sweat, not hardly, on easy terms, only just, optimistically, permissively, pettily, pleasantly, readily, remissly, scampingly, scantily, scarcely, shallowly, simply, skimpingly, slightingly, slightly, slurringly, smilingly, smoothly, superficially, swimmingly, tant soit peu, triflingly, trivially, unessentially, unimportantly, unreasonably, unrigorously, weakly, well, whimsically, with good cheer, without difficultyFor further exploring for "lightly" in Webster Dictionary Online