What does "gingerly" mean?
Often of movements: very careful, cautious, or delicate.
Gingerly
/ˈdʒɪn(d)ʒəli/ adj, adv
adj, adv ·Moderate ·College level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Often of movements: very careful, cautious, or delicate.
- Grammar: gingerly is listed as adj, adv.
- Nearest alternatives: calculating, cannily, canny, careful.
- Useful contrasts: regardless, aggressive, assertive.
- Usage evidence: The opera singer tested her voice gingerly after recovering from throat surgery.
How to use "gingerly"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "gingerly" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "gingerly" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "gingerly" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "gingerly" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "gingerly" is acting as adj, adv in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "calculating" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "gingerly", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Adjective
- 1 Often of movements: very careful, cautious, or delicate.
"We can honestly commend the Atlantic Monthly as the most able and spirited of American periodicals, at the present time, and we like it, moreover, because it dares have opinions and to express them in unmistakable terms, on subjects which when referred to at all, by most of the current magazines, are mentioned in the gingerliest namby-pamby style of common place neutrality."
- 2 Often of a person or the way they move: dainty, delicate; also, excessively delicate; affected, mincing. obsolete
"All yᵉ rest of my trimmest, tricksiest, gingerliest ioyes, / But very tædious and most odious toyes?"
Adjective
- 1 with extreme care or delicacy wordnet
Adverb
- 1 In a cautious and delicate manner; (very) carefully or cautiously.
"He placed the glass jar gingerly on the concrete step."
- 2 Chiefly of dancing or walking: done with small, dainty steps; daintily; also, with excessive delicacy; affectedly, mincingly. obsolete
"Oh! ſhe lookes ſo ſugredly, ſo ſimpringly, ſo gingerly, ſo amarouſly, ſo amiably. […] [She] is ſuch an intycing ſhee-vvitch, carrying the charmes of your Ievvels about her. Oh!"
Adverb
- 1 in a gingerly manner wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"The opera singer tested her voice gingerly after recovering from throat surgery."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "gingerly"?
Common synonyms include: calculating, cannily, canny, careful, careful, careful handling.
How do you use "gingerly" in a sentence?
The opera singer tested her voice gingerly after recovering from throat surgery.
How do you pronounce "gingerly"?
Pronounced /ˈdʒɪn(d)ʒəli/.
Etymology
The second element is -ly; the first element may be Anglo-Norman gençur or Old French gençor, gensor, comparative forms (also attested as positives) of gent (“beautiful, noble, pleasant, courteous”). The Oxford English Dictionary notes, however, that there is a gap of a few centuries between the last appearance of gençor, etc., and the first appearance of gingerly. The adjective is derived from the adverb, possibly because -ly is also a suffix forming adjectives.