Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use silently in a sentence

40 example sentences · adverb

Silently means in a silent manner; making no noise. Example: “The baby lay in its crib and slept silently.”

Examples of silently by meaning

adverbOf an edit or change to a text, without explicit acknowledgment.

  • Yule and Burnell have silently provided a translation.2018, James Lambert, “Setting the Record Straight: An In-depth Examination of Hobson-Jobson”, in International Journal of Lexicography...

More sentences with silently

  • The baby lay in its crib and slept silently.From the entry lay
  • I silently wept as my daughter's husband rejected her. What would she do now that she was no longer a maiden but also barren?From the entry barren
  • Owls are rockstars among raptors in the respect that they hunt amazingly well while also doing it under pitch-dark conditions and silently.From the entry rockstar
  • Shortly after the conversation turned to the results of the recent election, John silently stood from the table, and without explanation, precipitously walked out on the dinner party.From the entry precipitously
  • As an artist Norm was overwelled by the colors, Kathy just stood silently taking at all in.2022, Jay Fullum ·, IALFs, Humans, and RAHs, page 295. From the entry overwell
  • What are you two up to?” “Eh, I'm on my phone and Rosa's just sitting there silently.2019 January 31, Phil Augusta Jackson, “Four Movements” (7:46 from the start), in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, season 6, episode 4, spoken by Gina…. From the entry yewzh
  • I was snotting all into my mouth and having to eat it, silently shuddering.2014, Caitlin Moran, How to Build a Girl, Ebury, published 2015, page 148. From the entry snot
  • As we’re in the bathroom side-by-side, silently make-upping, Sophie turns to me.2011, Gemma Burgess, chapter 10, in A Girl Like You, London: Avon, →ISBN, page 93. From the entry make-up
  • If he wasn’t chattering about the “b’loons” he was gazing up at them silently.2009 July 14, Brian Passey, “‘B’loons’ fill Salina skies”, in The Spectrum, page C6. From the entry b'loon
  • Micah shifted restlessly as he silently eye-stalked the people who had crowded into St.2006, Rhodes, Evie, Criss Cross, page 74. From the entry eye-stalk
  • My new name will be Catherine." She rolled the name Catherine silently again.2003, Michael O. Gregory, The Dead Years, page 35. From the entry Catherine
  • In vases of coloured glass, expensive cut flowers were silently screaming as they smellily expired.2002, Will Self, Dorian. From the entry smellily
  • When she moved the book the ancient toad hopped off silently, toadwise.2002, Janet Fox, A Witch's Dozen, page 69. From the entry toadwise
  • Bloomberg said before standing silently at the lectern for seven seconds as he collected his thoughts.2001 July 30, Dean E. Murphy, “Political Memo; Being Mike Bloomberg, Without a Script or a Doubt”, in New York Times, retrieved 11 Oct 2008. From the entry collect one's thoughts
  • Everyone worships silently until you two feel that it's time to say your vows .1998, Carley Roney, The Knot's Complete Guide to Weddings in the Real World: The Ultimate Source of Ideas, Advice, and Relief for the…. From the entry congregation
  • Lurkers hang around silently in otherwise noisy chat rooms, eavesreading other people's conversations for vicarious fun.1998, Larry Samuel, The Future Ain't what it Used to be: 40 Cultural Trends Transforming Your Job, Your Life, Your World, Riverhead Books…. From the entry eavesread
  • Then slowly, and as silently as possible, I drove the car back to camp.1997, Susan Wood, A Fly in Amber, page 191. From the entry purr
  • He silently cursed the recently arrived Jessup, who was full of more swash than sense .1993, Robin Leanne Wiete, When Morning Comes, page 32. From the entry swash
  • Still, as silently and ruthlessly as the predator he was stalking, he moved forward.1989, Jennifer Greene, chapter 1, in Night of the Hunter, Silhouette Books, page 10. From the entry man-scent
  • Some popcorns silently flicked off like face peelings on his shoe.1988, Jim Freedman, “I-ran Sucks”, in Drawing Heat, Windsor, Ont.: Black Moss Press, →ISBN, page 17. From the entry popcorn
  • The Arab odd-job boy finished his watering and silently returned to the house.1965, Muriel Spark, The Mandelbaum Gate, London: Macmillan, Part One, Chapter 3. From the entry unloquacious
  • She was silently forming thoughts behind that Mona Lisan mask, and now she put them into speech.1949, Mari Tomasi, Like Lesser Gods, Milwaukee, Wis.: The Bruce Publishing Company, page 13. From the entry Mona Lisan
  • They ate silently, wolfishly, and wiped up the grease with the bread.1939 April 14, John Steinbeck, chapter 26, in The Grapes of Wrath, New York, N.Y.: The Viking Press, →OCLC, page 394. From the entry wolfishly
  • Robespierre, the very incarnation of lustful and deadly Vengeance, stands silently by..1922, Baroness Orczy, The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel. From the entry incarnation
  • At the respective ‘stands’ assigned to them stood the rival foes, each silently adjusting his shearing paraphernalia.1911, ‘Steel Rudd’, The Book of Dan, Brisbane: University of Queensland Press, published 1970, page 87. From the entry stand
  • Gloating silently, she laved handfuls of hot sand over her, her mind alternating sanely and insanely.1907, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia…. From the entry sanely
  • While one man was beating off the swords, the waters stole up silently and took him.1905, Saxo Grammaticus, translated by Oliver Elton, The Nine Books of the Danish History of Saxo Grammaticus, section II. From the entry steel
  • During the long lapses in work common with on-location productions, Marilyn would silently meditate as Roberts provided a shoulder massage.2014, Gary Vitacco-Robles, Icon: The Life, Times and Films of Marilyn Monroe Volume 2 1956-1962 AND Beyond. From the entry massage
  • They unbagged the groceries, working side by side, mostly silently.2013, Carole Howard, About Face. From the entry unbag
  • Down below, a ragged line of wolves ran silently, in single file, following a deer trail through the salal.2013, Ruth Ozeki, A Tale for the Time Being, Canongate Books (2019), page 186. From the entry salal
  • Just like Ada, she pursed her lips and silently mouthed the unmentionable things in life, rather than saying them out loud.2013, Lisa Riley, Never Judge a Book by its Cover: The Autobiography, →ISBN. From the entry mee-maw
  • The last function declared with the same name in the same scope will silently clobber the earlier function definition.2007, Billy Hoffman, Bryan Sullivan, Ajax Security, unnumbered page. From the entry clobber
  • Hurry, he yelled silently to the pilot.2002. Elizabeth Lowell, Eden Burning, HarperCollins, page 365. From the entry yell silently
  • Ancient mysteries brood silently in the Land of the Pharaohs.1997, James Finn Garner, Apocalypse Wow!: A Memoir for the End of Time, page 102. From the entry noselessly
  • Now they just sat silently eating torte and sipping tea.1994, Shanna Swendson, chapter 3, in Runaway Hearts (An Avalon Romance), New York, N.Y.: Avalon Books, →ISBN, page 32. From the entry torte
  • It was gliding silently in on gravs, directly overhead.1992, Gardner Dozois, Geodesic Dreams: The Best Short Fiction Of Gardner Dozois, →ISBN, page 83. From the entry grav
  • The farmers (mouzhiki) watched silently and attentively.1992 September 6, Mark Markish x2799, “Organic Russia”, in soc.culture.soviet (Usenet), archived from the original on 30 Jul 2025. From the entry barin
  • Shut up, he yelled silently as the woman cried out in pain and terror in the cabin behind him.1988. Craig Thomas, Winter Hawk, Morrow, page 373. From the entry yell silently
  • She spun around, silk gliding silently across polished piano bench, and met them with a radiant, puckersome smile.1970, David Quammen, To walk the line: a novel. From the entry puckersome

Meaning of silently

  1. adverb In a silent manner; making no noise.
  2. adverb Of an edit or change to a text, without explicit acknowledgment.

Full definition of silently

Questions about silently in a sentence

How do you use silently in a sentence?
Silently is used as an adverb. For example: “The baby lay in its crib and slept silently.”
What is a short sentence with silently?
“Hurry, he yelled silently to the pilot.”
What does silently mean?
Silently means in a silent manner; making no noise.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: silently (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 silently in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/silently. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.