motionlessly
1
4.0
- adverb
- /ˈmoʊʃənləsli/
- The toddler who sat motionlessly, gaping at him in innocent confusion, did not quite see the fake side of the game.
- sit motionlessly
- wait motionlessly
- stand motionlessly
Examples
-
During the meditation session, everyone sat motionlessly, focusing on their breath.
-
He stood motionlessly for a moment, as if thinking about whether he really wanted to try this.
Fiction book (2002) -
They would wait, motionlessly, for the firing to stop.
Fiction book (1995) -
He would sit for hours, motionlessly contemplating a stone or a bush.
Fiction book (1993) -
He stood motionlessly, taking in what she revealed to the inward and the outward eye before he spoke.
Fiction book (1993) -
In one spot, three men shove along a cart piled high with goods; in another, a bullock lies motionlessly in the very middle of the road.
Academic text (1992) -
Marie was sitting motionlessly in a corner of the sofa, small, gray-haired, with shaking pink cheeks, holding a scented handkerchief at her little nose.
Fiction book (2001) -
Hordes of people mill about aimlessly; others squat motionlessly in the middle of the room, gazing remotely into the distance and seemingly resigned to spending days there.
Academic text (1992) -
The cat lay on the windowsill, watching the birds outside motionlessly.
-
He stood motionlessly in the doorway, unsure of what to say next.
Synonyms
20
2.4
Someone or something that is quiet and still and not moving
2
6.2
Not moving at all
2
4.8
Someone looks at something without moving their eyes
1
6.3
In a way that does not move or change
1
6.7
Without movement or energy, not reacting to anything
1
6.0
In a way that is firmly fixed and cannot change where it is
1
3.9
In a way that shows little activity or movement
1
7.0
In a still, cold way that shows no feeling
1
6.8
In a way that has no movement and feels stale, often about air or water
How Still
Surface Forms
Morphology
motionlessly = motionless (transparent) = motion + less + ly
The adverb is a straightforward derivation from the adjective 'motionless' using the productive suffix '-ly'.
Etymology
The word motionlessly starts with motion, which is like the common word move and means 'move'. The ending -less means 'without' and -ly turns a word into one that tells how something is done, so motionlessly means 'in a way without movement'.