Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use gently in a sentence

40 example sentences · adverb

Gently means without strong force or quickness: softly, lightly. Example: “My longtime friend, since birth actually, called and gently broke the bad news to me.”

Examples of gently by meaning

adverbWithout strong force or quickness: softly, lightly.

  • Cut the tofu into strips about 1cm thick, mix gently (so it doesn't break) with the marinade and leave in the fridge for half an hour.2012 May 8, Yotam Ottolenghi, Sami Tamimi, Ottolenghi: The Cookbook, Random House, →ISBN, page 79
  • The plane is travelling impossibly slowly – 30km an hour – when it gently noses up and leaves the ground.2013 September 6, Tom Cheshire, “Solar-powered travel”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 13, archived from the original on 11 Apr...

adverbIn a gentle manner; to a gentle degree.

  • From Blackwater there is a more or less level run through gently rolling farmlands and downs to Merstone, with its island platform and passing loop.1946 July and August, K. Westcott Jones, “Isle of Wight Central Railway—2”, in Railway Magazine, page 243

More sentences with gently

  • My longtime friend, since birth actually, called and gently broke the bad news to me.From the entry longtime
  • The setting sunlight played through the gently waving branches, creating subtly nuanced transitions of color and tone.From the entry nuanced
  • The horse nuzzled its foal’s head gently to wake him up.From the entry nuzzle
  • I gently tore the bloodied piece of paper out from her death grip.From the entry death grip
  • Feed the paper gently into the document shredder.From the entry feed
  • The cork bobbed gently in the calm water.From the entry bob
  • Snowflakes fell gently across the mountain’s rugged visage.From the entry visage
  • He coaxed the horse gently into the trailer.From the entry coax
  • She ruled over her children firmly but gently.From the entry ruled
  • He gently lifted the half-asleep child into bed.From the entry half-asleep
  • She corrected him firmly but gently.From the entry firmly
  • To be honest, he has a bit of a body odor problem, but we haven't yet had an opportunity to tell him gently and privately.From the entry to be honest
  • His fingers gently grazed my cheek." Look at me." At first, I resisted.2023 May 31, Jo Wilde, The Angel Series Collection - Books 1-3, Next Chapter. From the entry coal
  • McInnis reached down and gently raised the old man's head to face him.2023 October 8, HarryBlank, “Taking the Lead”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 26 May 2024. From the entry appertain
  • She gently scruffed the kitten who was trying to climb her leg.2023, Anastasia Ryan, You Should Smile More. From the entry scruff
  • She has these nasty knots that I keep trying to gently work out, but I can't.2023 March 13, u/hiiiiiiiiiiyaaaaaaaa, “Can't brush her hair”, in r/toddlers, Reddit. From the entry twonager
  • Beautiful fresh eggs, boiled gently to perfection, are a true gourmet experience.2021, Darina Allen, “Eggs, Dairy [Soft-boiled Eggs]”, in How to Cook: The 100 Essential Recipes Everyone should Know, London: Kyle Books…. From the entry albumen
  • Gently wash the slices in a couple of bowl fulls of water until the water is clear.2020, John Partridge, “Fish & Potato Chips Tacos”, in There’s No Taste Like Home: My Cookbook, London: Mitchell Beazley, →ISBN. From the entry bowl full
  • But people in Chagang Province speak very gently, which makes people feel comfortable.2017, Daniel Tudor, quoting Je Son Lee, “Pyongyang vs. the Rest”, in Ask a North Korean: Defectors Talk about their Lives inside the…. From the entry Chagang
  • Add the cream cheese chunks at the end and stir gently.2017, Blake Spalding, Jennifer Castle, with Lavinia Spalding, “Piñon-Sage Stuffed Summer Squash”, in This Immeasurable Place: Food and…. From the entry cream-cheesy
  • Gently pierce each asterisk with a wooden skewer to make a hole.2016, Courtney Sanchez, “Retro Stove”, in DIY Box Creations: Fun and Creative Projects to Make out of Really Big Boxes!, Lake Forest…. From the entry asterisk
  • The alien gently manoeuvred the ship out of the gape-mouthed bay.2014, KS Augustin, Quinten's Revenge, →ISBN. From the entry gape-mouthed
  • Prodding gently I realised I had just cracked or broken one or more ribs.2013, Crispin Latymer, Where the Ocean Meets the Sky, page 48. From the entry nav
  • Sometimes they test their victim by gently kicking or tapping them as they pass by.2013, DeVere D. Woods, O'Hara's Fundamentals of Criminal Investigation, →ISBN. From the entry lush worker
  • After about a minute, the creek bed vomited the debris into a gently sloped meadow.2012 December 26, John Branch, “Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times…. From the entry slow
  • Then erase any pencil lines with a good, soft eraser, rubbing gently, in only one direction.2012, Caroline Joy Adams, An Italic Calligraphy Handbook, page 79. From the entry crumb
  • He dipped his muufo in the Cambuulo and placed it gently in her mouth.2012, Cas Sigers, Chocolate Dove, Deer Park, N.Y.: Urban Books, →ISBN, page 170. From the entry muufo
  • So when the well blew, the methane did not bubble up gently.2011, Courtney Farrell, Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill, →ISBN, page 8. From the entry bubble up
  • Gently go over your dog's face with the washcloth until it's clean.2010, Dogs All-in-One For Dummies, →ISBN, page 347. From the entry flew
  • Because you kill me like this, so gently– I unexpectedly become anguished.2008, Hayashi Naotaka, “Prologue”, in Chaos;Head. From the entry boring
  • As they walked, Shelby reached down and gently took Alan's hand to hold.2008, Raymond Smith II, An American Odyssey, →ISBN, page 70. From the entry Shelby
  • Adjusting his spectacles on the bridge of his nose, he gently preened the bush with his pruners.2007, J. P. De Sales, The Coming of the Reichchild, page 162. From the entry preen
  • I steered her gently in the direction of the sleek, the tailored, the forgiving!2007, Catherine Dunne, “Maggie”, in At a Time Like This, London: Macmillan, →ISBN, page 79. From the entry pavlova
  • The gift-giving nature of the exchange feels nice and pokes gently at art world economics.2007 February 3, Holland Cotter, “To Explore Race, Sometimes You Focus on the Explorer”, in New York Times. From the entry nonartist
  • The fish is gently poached in milk with onions, then flaked.2007, “Soups and Salads”, in 1001 Foods to Die For, Kansas City, Mo.: Andrews McMeel Publishing, →ISBN, page 124. From the entry Cullen skink
  • She spoke very gently, full of compassion for the boy, velveting her reproach for me.2006, Diane Setterfield, The Thirteenth Tale. From the entry velvet
  • Gently place the flat end of the vertex distometer against his closed lid.2006, Gary S. Schwartz, The Eye Exam: A Complete Guide, SLACK, page 62. From the entry distometer

Meaning of gently

  1. adverb Without strong force or quickness: softly, lightly.
  2. adverb In a gentle manner; to a gentle degree.
  3. adverb Quietly: without much noise or motion.

Full definition of gently

Questions about gently in a sentence

How do you use gently in a sentence?
Gently is used as an adverb. For example: “My longtime friend, since birth actually, called and gently broke the bad news to me.”
What is a short sentence with gently?
“She corrected him firmly but gently.”
What does gently mean?
Gently means without strong force or quickness: softly, lightly.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: gently (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use gently in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/gently. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.