wildly

English

Etymology

From Middle English wildely, wijldeli, wildeliche, equivalent to wild +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• enPR: wīldʹlē, IPA^(key): /ˈwaɪldli/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: wild‧ly

Adverb

wildly (comparative more wildly, superlative most wildly)

1. In a wild, uncontrolled manner.

   He swung wildly at the guy's head, but ended up on the floor.

   • 2011 October 1, Phil Dawkes, “Sunderland 2 - 2 West Brom”, in BBC Sport‎:

     Steve Bruce's side have swung from highs to lows in what has been at best a wildly inconsistent start to the season. They experienced a microcosm of this within the opening 45 minutes at the Stadium of Light.

   • 2021 March 10, “Stop & Examine”, in RAIL, number 926, page 70:

     "From behind the counter of this provincial train station coffee shop, Joanna was barista and unofficial shrink to wildly varied London-bound travellers," writes author Laline Paull. Confessions of a Barista on Platform 1 was published on February 9 by The Firle Press [...].

2. To a ridiculous or extreme degree; extremely.

Translations

in a wild manner

Esperanto: sovaĝe Finnish: villisti (fi) French: sauvagement (fr) Korean: 격렬 (ko) (gyeongnyeol) Polish: wściekle (pl) Portuguese: selvagemente, selvaticamente, desvairadamente Spanish: alocadamente (es), salvajemente (es) Walloon: såvaedjmint (wa), waeraxhmint (wa)