Thinly

//ˈθɪnli// adv

adv ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adverb
  1. 1
    In a thin, loose, or scattered manner; scantily; not thickly.

    "The surroundings become bleak in the extreme as the timber line is approached and trees give place to thinly scattered birches that are little more than bushes."

  2. 2
    Barely; hardly; with little attempt to conceal.

    "a thinly-veiled attack on my integrity"

Adverb
  1. 1
    in a widely distributed manner wordnet
  2. 2
    in a small quantity or extent wordnet
  3. 3
    without viscosity wordnet
  4. 4
    without force or sincere effort wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
lightlylightlythin

Example

More examples

"I like to spread my toast thinly with jam."

Etymology

From Middle English þynnelich (“with thin material; thinly”); equivalent to thin + -ly.

Related phrases

thinly-veiled

More for "thinly"

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.