Broadly

How to spell broadly

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce broadly

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does broadly mean?

1. adverbIn a general way, without focusing on small details or exceptions.
2. adverbAcross a wide range or to a great extent.

Broadly in a sentence

• The two reports reach broadly similar conclusions about the budget.

• The survey drew on a broadly representative sample of households.

• Broadly speaking, the new policy benefits younger workers.

• She smiled broadly when she heard the good news.

Where does broadly come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word comes from the Old English adjective brad, meaning 'wide' or 'extensive', which goes back to a Germanic root shared with the Dutch breed and German breit. The adverb form was made by adding the native English suffix -ly, descended from Old English -lice, which originally meant 'in the manner of' and once carried the sense of 'having the likeness of'. So broadly literally describes doing something in a wide or expansive way. Over centuries the spelling settled with the 'oa' digraph, which holds the long 'aw' vowel sound even though it looks like it should rhyme with 'road'; that mismatch between the 'oa' letters and the sound is the small trap in the word. By the sixteenth century broadly had developed its common modern figurative sense of 'in general terms' or 'on the whole', a usage that remains everyday in adult speech and writing.

How the word is built

• broad (wide, extensive)
• -ly (adverb suffix)