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Glite Dictionary
😏 Without care 🪶 Gently 🥗 With moderation
lightly

lightly

55 1.0
With only a small amount of food or drink
  • adverb
  • /ˈlaɪtli/
translation icon : con moderación
  • He only ate lightly at dinner, opting for a small portion of pasta.

So this one says you can go lightly with this one or go all in.

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Examples

  • I'm just going to lightly stipple a translucent powder over top.

  • Little real techniques fan brush and I'm just lightly dusting it off.

  • So just going to very lightly apply that through the ends.

  • And then we're just going to go right under here and just lightly press it in.

  • Oh OK, going to lightly brush through it.

  • I'm going to very lightly place this in the inner corner.

  • I'm going to take a foundation brush and just lightly place this on the skin.

  • And then you can use this lightly just under the cheekbone.

  • Yes, and I'm just going to lightly fill in my brows.

  • Then you'll take this Narconal and lightly coat each glass.

    Death Becomes Her (1992)

Synonyms

sparingly
vslightly
15 3.5

Using only a small amount

is about small consumption rather than general limitation
temperately
vslightly
1 6.5

Act in a calm way without doing too much

focuses on taking only small amounts of food or drink
abstemiously
vslightly
  • Formal
9.1

Eating and drinking in a moderate way

is moderate, allowing only small amounts rather than strict avoidance
sparely
vslightly
3.9

Using only a small amount

emphasizes small intake rather than scarcity of supplies

Antonyms

heavily
320 1.0

To a large degree or too much

excessively
32 3.0

To a degree that is more than needed or acceptable

gluttonously
7.6

In a way that makes someone eat or drink too much

Compounds

lightly-armed
  • Specialized
3 5.3

With only small weapons and no heavy guns

lightly armored
  • Specialized
6.7

With thin armor that protects against small weapons but not heavy ones

How Indulgent

freely
287 1.0
moderately
47 2.8
lightly
55 1.0
sparingly
15 3.5

Surface Forms

lightly positive

Morphology

lightly = light (transparent) = light + ly

The sense 'with moderation' follows from 'light' meaning 'not abundant' plus the adverbial '-ly', a direct and regular derivation.

Etymology

Lightly comes from light ('not full or heavy') combined with -ly, so it can mean 'with only a small amount'. That's why to eat or drink lightly means to have only a little of something or to do so in a moderate way.