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glancingly

glancingly

7.4
To touch or hit something lightly at an angle
  • adverb
  • /ˈɡlæn.sɪŋ.li/
translation icon : oblicuamente
  • He only glanced at the document glancingly, missing several important details.

Examples

  • The sunlight hit the surface of the lake glancingly, creating shimmering patterns.

  • Most of them missed, which caused him to sob more dramatically as he expended even more energy to regain his balance after every staggering miss, but some of his blows hit Speight's guard or landed glancingly on the chin or body.

    Academic text (2000)
  • The ball struck the wall glancingly, deflecting off at an angle.

Synonyms

imperceptibly
vsglancingly
7 7.5

So slight that you do not notice it

is a light or angled touch that still affects something slightly
obliquely
vsglancingly
5 6.9

In a sideways or indirect way

is about touching lightly at an angle rather than being simply indirect

Antonyms

324 1.0

In a straight line without turning

How Directly

directly
324 1.0
glancingly
7.4
tangentially
6 7.7

Surface Forms

glancingly positive

Morphology

glancingly = glancing (transparent) = glance + ing + ly

The adverb is transparently formed from 'glancing' (light or angled contact/oblique action) plus '-ly'.

Etymology

Glancingly comes from the verb glance, which also has the sense 'to touch lightly at an angle', like light that 'glances' off a surface. That is why glancingly can describe something that only hits or affects another thing lightly or at a slant.