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compactly

compactly

1 4.0
People pack items closely and neatly so they take little space
  • adverb
  • /kəmˈpæktli/
translation icon : compactamente
  • The furniture is designed to fit compactly in small apartments, making it ideal for urban living.
  • compactly built
  • stores compactly
  • compactly designed

It's just all in here and it just super compactly squeezes back down like that.

Examples

  • I followed her to her mini-office, which is tucked compactly behind a bookcase.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • She arranged her books compactly on the shelf to maximize space.

  • It's just all in here and it just super compactly squeezes back down like that.

  • But everything does fit in here very nicely and compactly aside from this cable and the third party log cable.

  • I thought, if I could deflate it in the morning and inflate it at night, it would pack compactly.

    Blog text (6)
  • George tried to picture this small, compactly built woman desperately signaling to a helicopter hovering overhead while the apocalypse threatened; the image, however, refused to form.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • In some ways, the two men were alike: short, compactly built, artistic, the products of deprived early childhoods—it would have been easy for Truman to look into Perry Smith's black eyes and think he was looking at his darker twin.

    Blog text (27)
  • The clothes fit compactly into the suitcase, leaving room for other items.

Synonyms

tightly
vscompactly
166 1.0

In a firm way so something does not move or open

arranges to save space and look neat rather than focus on firmness
densely
vscompactly
30 2.9

In a way that things or people are close together

is organized to fit neatly and use very little space
snugly
vscompactly
5 2.7

In a way that fits closely and comfortably so it is not loose

is arranged to save space rather than to give comfortable fit

Antonyms

In a way that gives a lot of room to move

How Compact

densely
30 2.9
tightly
166 1.0
compactly
1 4.0
loosely
19 2.6
sparsely
15 4.6

Surface Forms

compactly positive

Morphology

compactly = compact (transparent) = compact + ly

Standard adverbial formation from the adjective 'compact' giving the expected meaning 'in a compact manner' (physically packed).

Etymology

Compactly comes from compact, built from com- meaning 'together' and the idea of being 'pressed' — think of a pack or small box with things squeezed in. So to put things compactly is to arrange them 'together' so they use very little space.