slackly
1
5.8
- adverb
- /ˈslækli/
:
flojo
- He held the rope slackly, allowing it to droop to the ground.
- hung slackly
Examples
-
She touches him, and his head tips slackly to one side.
Fiction book (1990) -
I ignored him, and noticed that my jaw was hanging slackly.
Fiction book (1997) -
Then I was resting from all that activity, holding the hose slackly at my side.
Fiction book (1997) -
Steve Kelly mumbled slackly that Romney is a good person and is worthy of respect.
Blog text (31) -
The woman's head bounced slackly against the wood, with a dense, compact sound.
Fiction book (1993) -
The jaw hung slackly open, and the empty blue eyes bugged horribly.
Fiction book (1995) -
The melted telephone receiver dangled slackly on its cord.
Fiction book (1990) -
He whistles to himself monotonously and tunelessly, as if timekeeping, holding the pistol slackly.
Fiction book (2001) -
Then, that afternoon, without any transition from formality, he grasped her fist where it was resting slackly on her desk and covered it tightly in his own.
Fiction book (1994) -
Julian Moynahan reads the novel as a struggle of "Firmness versus Wetness," and deplores the shift from "a tensely masculine world" to "a slackly feminine one."
Fiction book (1994)
Synonyms
20
3.0
In a relaxed way that is not tightly controlled
5
4.4
In a weak, soft way that has no stiffness
In a limp, loose way that hangs down
In a limp, weak way that is not firm
In a sad, tired way that makes the head or body hang down
In a careless, not strict way
Antonyms
How Tight
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Slackly comes from the simple word slack meaning 'loose' or 'not tight', with the ending -ly that makes it describe how something is done. Think of a rope or a flag hanging slackly — relaxed and not tight — which is why slackly means 'in a loose or relaxed way'.