Tightly

How to spell tightly

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce tightly

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does tightly mean?

1. adverbIn a firm, secure, or closely packed manner, leaving little slack or space.

Tightly in a sentence

• She held the railing tightly as the train lurched forward.

• The lid was screwed on so tightly that no one could open the jar.

Where does tightly come from?

Language of origin: Old Norse

This is the adverb form of the adjective 'tight', built simply by adding the native suffix '-ly', which Old English used to turn an adjective into an adverb of manner. The root 'tight' itself has a tangled history: the Middle English word 'thight' meant 'dense, solid, or watertight', and it almost certainly drew on the Old Norse word 'thettr', meaning 'dense' or 'close-packed', which Norse settlers brought to England. Over time the sense shifted from 'not leaking' toward 'drawn taut' and 'held firmly', which is the meaning we hear in 'tightly' today. The early 'th-' spelling was gradually replaced by 't-', leaving the silent 'gh' that once marked a guttural sound now long gone from English speech. That silent 'gh' is the only real spelling trap here, a fossil of pronunciation that disappeared centuries ago.

How the word is built

• tight (firmly fixed, taut)
• -ly (adverb suffix)