messily
1
1.4
- adverb
- /ˈmɛsɪli/
- Great loops of coaxial cable emerged from the computers, zigzagging up the columns to the backbone cable tacked messily to the ceiling.
- ended messily
- hair swept messily
- rather messily
Examples
-
It was the same way she used to fill in coloring books: quickly, messily, veering out of the lines.
Fiction book (2002) -
Wearing thick glasses, behind which her eyes appeared slightly crossed, Tara had long, tousled hair that she wore messily swept back into a large cotton ponytail holder.
Academic text (2012) -
Her hair was pinned up messily against the heat.
Fiction book (1999) -
This month I am going to write messily and hard, barely a pause to edit.
Blog text (12) -
No, this story ends messily, in uncertainty, with a bunch of kids going back to school to resume their normal day-to-day lives.
Fiction book (1995) -
The baby wears an oversized t-shirt under what looks like a little bathrobe, and messily eats a chocolate bar.
Fiction book (2001) -
The children played messily in the mud, leaving their clothes covered in dirt.
-
She untangled her necklace messily, struggling with the knots as she sat on the floor.
-
The painter left his brushes messily scattered across the table after finishing the artwork.
Synonyms
17
8.2
In a random, messy way without a plan
8
6.1
In a way that is not planned or organized
4
2.9
In a careless, untidy way that makes things messy
1
9.9
In a messy, untidy way
1
9.9
In a messy, mixed-up way with things in no order
1
3.4
In a messy way that is not neat
1
4.1
In a messy, untidy way, especially about clothes or hair
In a messy, disorganized way
Antonyms
How Messy
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Messily comes from messy, which comes from mess, meaning 'a dirty or untidy state', and the ending -ly turns it into a word that shows how something is done. So to do something messily is to do it 'in a messy or untidy way'.