Vividly

How to spell vividly

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce vividly

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does vividly mean?

1. adverbIn a way that produces clear, bright, or strikingly lifelike impressions in the mind or senses.

Vividly in a sentence

• She could still vividly recall her first day at the new office.

• The sunset was vividly described in the opening chapter of the novel.

Where does vividly come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb vivere, which simply meant 'to live'. From that root came the adjective vividus, describing something full of life, animated, or spirited, and that sense of liveliness carried over when English adopted 'vivid' in the seventeenth century. At first the word was applied to people and energies that seemed bursting with life, but it soon shifted toward describing bright, intense colours and sharp, lifelike mental images. The everyday adverb 'vividly' was then formed by adding the standard '-ly' ending, meaning 'in a vivid manner'. The same living root survives in familiar relatives such as 'revive', 'survive', and 'vivacious', so picturing something so alive it almost breathes is a useful way to fix the spelling.

How the word is built

• viv- (from Latin vivus: alive, lively)
• -id (adjective suffix)
• -ly (adverb suffix)