Highly

How to spell highly

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce highly

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does highly mean?

1. adverbTo a great extent or degree; very.
2. adverbWith great respect, esteem, or approval.

Highly in a sentence

• The new manager is highly skilled at resolving disputes.

• Her former employer spoke highly of her work ethic.

• These components are highly sensitive to changes in temperature.

• The surgeon comes highly recommended by colleagues across the hospital.

Where does highly come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Highly is a thoroughly native English word, descending from the Old English heahlice, which combined heah, meaning 'high' or 'tall', with the adverb-forming ending -lice. The root heah goes back to a common Germanic source shared with the Dutch hoog and the German hoch, all carrying the sense of great height or elevation. Over the centuries the literal idea of physical height broadened into a figurative one, so that 'highly' came to mean 'to a great degree' or 'very much' rather than 'far off the ground'. The same shift from physical to figurative height is why we speak of high prices, high praise, and high office. The spelling stays simple because both parts are plain English: keep the silent 'gh' from 'high' and add the regular '-ly', remembering not to drop a letter when the two meet.

How the word is built

• high (elevated, great in degree)
• -ly (adverb suffix)