highly

B1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈhaɪli/ See IPA manual

Freq #2626

Meanings

1

adv
To a great degree; very.

He has a highly demanding job.
2

adv
With great approval or admiration.

Her teacher spoke highly of her.
3

adv
At a high level, rate, or rank.

The company employs many highly paid workers.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adv · to a great degree; very. extremely

Word family

Derived forms highly-strung

Appears in

Phrases (5)

See all

highly developed
advanced to a great degree in ability, complexity, or organization

Adverb + adjective
highly controversial
Causing a great deal of strong disagreement.

Adverb + adjective
highly specialized
Adapted or developed for a very narrow function or limited set of conditions.

Adverb + adjective
highly idiosyncratic
strongly marked by features peculiar to one person

Adverb + adjective
highly viscous
thick and strongly resistant to flowing

Adverb + adjective

Etymology

From Middle English hiȝly, heȝly, heyȝliche, from Old English hēalīce (“highly”), equivalent to high + -ly. Cognate with Dutch hoogelijk (“highly”), German höchlich (“highly”), Danish højlig (“highly”), Swedish högligen (“highly”).

hiȝly Middle English hēalīce Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# highly

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adv
**IPA (US):** /ˈhaɪli/
**Frequency rank:** 2626

## Meanings
1. To a great degree; very.
2. With great approval or admiration.
3. At a high level, rate, or rank.

## Examples
- He has a highly demanding job.
- Her teacher spoke highly of her.
- The company employs many highly paid workers.

## Derived Forms
- highly-strung

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: hiȝly
- Root: hēalīce

## Etymology
From Middle English hiȝly, heȝly, heyȝliche, from Old English hēalīce (“highly”), equivalent to high + -ly. Cognate with Dutch hoogelijk (“highly”), German höchlich (“highly”), Danish højlig (“highly”), Swedish högligen (“highly”).

## AI Etymology
Highly comes from Middle English hiȝly, heȝly, heyȝliche, from Old English hēalīce (“highly”), equivalent to high + -ly. Cognate with Dutch hoogelijk (“highly”), German höchlich (“highly”), Danish højlig (“highly”), Swedish högligen (“highly”). The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern adverbial form is built from the named base and affix. In current use, the main senses are “To a great degree; very” and “With great approval or admiration”.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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