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Glite Dictionary
tautly

tautly

1 5.6
In a way that is pulled tight with no slack
  • adverb
  • /tɔtli/
translation icon : tensamente
  • The rope was pulled tautly to ensure the flag would fly high in the wind.
  • tautly stretched
  • skin stretched tautly
  • tautly muscular body

Examples

  • Surreptitiously, Pellaeon watched him, wondering tautly when the inevitable explosion would come.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • "Being a parent," she said tautly, "being a full-time parent means that you sometimes have to do things that your child doesn't approve of."

    Fiction book (1995)

  • No one that I could see. " "All right," she said tautly.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • "Professor Topa tautly held himself under control.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • "Wolf showed it to you?" He nodded tautly.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • "Yes," he said tautly.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Shorn stood tautly while they gathered their equipment and trooped down the ramp.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • Meguet, still clinging to the shard, her only argument, said tautly, "What do I burn?"

    Fiction book (1993)

  • "Assuming it's not yours," she said tautly, "then who cast the spell?" His brows drew together hard; his eyes shifted away from her, toward some memory.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Dueine was peering from the doorway of their shelter, clutching the collar of her robe, her face tautly fearful.

    Fiction book (2002)

Antonyms

slackly
1 5.8

In a loose, relaxed way that is not tight

How Tight

tightly
166 1.0
firmly
125 1.0
tautly
1 5.6
snugly
5 2.7
loosely
20 3.0

Surface Forms

tautly positive

Morphology

tautly = taut (transparent) = taut + ly

The adverb is a straightforward derivation from the adjective 'taut' with the productive suffix '-ly', so its meaning is easily predicted.

Etymology

Tautly comes from taut, which means 'tight' or 'stretched', plus the ending -ly that makes it describe how something is done. So, tautly means 'in a tight way', without any slack.