testingly
1
6.5
In a way that tries a thing to see how it works
- adverb
- /ˈtɛstɪŋli/
:
de manera experimental
- The teacher presented the problem testingly to see if the students could solve it.
Examples
-
I walked, testingly observant for sinkholes and snapping turtles.
Fiction book (1991) -
He asked her testingly if she really wanted to join the team.
-
She replied testingly, wondering how he would react to her unexpected answer.
Synonyms
experimentally
vstestingly
8
4.4
By testing something to see how it works
tries things in simple informal ways to see how they perform
How Tentative
Surface Forms
testingly positive
Morphology
testingly = testing (transparent) = test + ing + ly
Formed by the productive sequence test -> testing -> testingly; the manner meaning is a direct adverbial derivation from the verbal/adjectival base.
Etymology
Testingly comes from the common word test, which means 'to try' or 'examine', plus the ending -ingly. So testingly means doing something 'in a way of trying' to see how something works.