How to use softly in a sentence
40 example sentences · adverb
Softly means in a soft manner; gently. Example: “The masseuse was rubbing my back too softly for my liking, so I asked her to go harder.”
Examples of softly by meaning
adverbIn a soft manner; gently.
- The masseuse was rubbing my back too softly for my liking, so I asked her to go harder.
adverbNot loudly; nearly inaudibly.
- whisper softly in someone's ear
- play music softly
adverbWith subdued color; faded or misty with distance.
- And they sat very still, the two of them, and looked out over that great, beautiful desert—away to the home mesa that they could see, softly blue, in the distance.1928, Grace Moon, “VII. The Tale of the Sacred Eagle”, in The Runaway Papoose
More sentences with softly
- Solid bodies, if they be very softly percussed, give no sound.From the entry percuss
- You must drag your finger softly along the mouse wing from back to front.2022 June 27, Jorge Aguilar, “How to drag click — Drag Clicking Explained”, in Dot Esports, archived from the original on 15 Mar 2023. From the entry drag click
- “There is a man who must be chastised,” she says softly, lightly.2018, Nyx Smith, Shadowrun Legends: Striper Assassin, Catalyst Game Labs. From the entry chastise
- “Hallo,” Rossamünd said softly, “has the Sparrowling sent you?” The sparrow chirruped loudly.2010, D.M. Cornish, The Foundling's Tale, Part Two. From the entry sparrowling
- But those monstrous nonbiodegradables are killing me, and not softly either.2009 March 3, “It’s Not Easy Being Clean”, in New York Times. From the entry nonbiodegradable
- When we made eye contact, he looked down and very softly said, "You caught me."2009, George Sandul, The Road to Damascus... and Beyond, →ISBN, page 199. From the entry slackpack
- “Suicide king,” he said softly, touching the king of hearts' sword with his forefinger.2008 April 30, Connie Bailey, “Fancy Pants”, in Know When to Hold'em: A Dreamspinner Press Anthology, Frisco: Dreamspinner Press, →ISBN…. From the entry suicide king
- Fabio, his dark-colored twin that looked like an ordinary askal, lapped softly and gratefully at my hand.2008, Sassa Ramos, “A Cold Wind”, in Bing Ramos, editor, True Philippine Ghost Stories, volume 23, Quezon City: PSICOM Publishing, →ISSN…. From the entry askal
- Trenholme groaned softly in the background, eliciting a sharp command from his brother to “shut his jobbernowl.”2006, Pamela Aidan, Duty and Desire: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman, Simon and Schuster, page 266. From the entry jobbernowl
- You don't throw a hard pass if you can throw it softly.2006, Dick DeVenzio, Stuff Good Players Should Know: Intelligent Basketball from A to Z, →ISBN. From the entry hard pass
- Then, very softly, she says, "I'll stick the kettle on so we can wet our beaks."2005, John Lynch, Tom Water, →ISBN, page 168. From the entry wet one's beak
- DuBois went back into her compartment, sat down on her bed and began to cry softly.2002, Larry Millett, The Disappearance of Sherlock Holmes: A Mystery Featuring Shadwell Rafferty, Viking, →ISBN, page 220. From the entry Mme.
- The Cat gazed lovingly at his reflected image, while smoochy music piped softly through the speakers.1989, Grant Naylor, Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers. From the entry smoochy
- The window, softly curtained with dotted swiss, became the focus of my desperate hour-by-hour attention.1985, Carol Shields, “Dolls, Dolls, Dolls, Dolls”, in The Collected Stories, Random House Canada, published 2004, page 163. From the entry curtain
- He slipped it softly onto her unresisting finger and, like the unwise moncalf he was, kissed it.1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 1992, page 463. From the entry mooncalf
- The he pinched himself to make sure he was really awake, "Stone the crows!" he said softly.1971, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle and the Magic Zodiac, Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, page 141. From the entry stone the crows
- Even now, in the spring, the river softly cries, 'Menthol, Menthol, you are one wazoo.1969, Beard & Kennedy, Bored of the Rings, page 87. From the entry poof
- The fine rain blew very softly, filmily, but the wind made no noise.1928, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, [Germany?]: Privately printed, →OCLC. From the entry filmily
- Softly she gave me in my mouth the seedcake warm and chewed.1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[8]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC. From the entry seedcake
- The ape-man swore softly, and let his coat and shirt sink into the Atlantic.1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 117. From the entry unencumbered
- They flashed softly into the limpid heavens, like jewels let fall into clear water.1912, Willa Cather, The Bohemian Girl. From the entry sordid
- Softly she stroked the carpet with the palms of her hands.1911 October 26, Max Beerbohm, chapter XVI, in Zuleika Dobson, or, An Oxford Love Story, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: John Lane…. From the entry stroke
- "Well, why did you tell me?" said I softly, to enjoy her flutters of amazement, of dismay.1904, The Loves of Edwy, Lothrop Publishing Company, page 239. From the entry flutter
- It built him softly round, it roofed him warmly over, it rested, all so firm, on selection.1903 September 28, Henry James, The Ambassadors, London: Methuen & Co. […], →OCLC. From the entry roof
- “I do not, Gran'am, ambitionate to be the richest woman in Yorkshire,” the girl said, softly.1900, The Living Age - Volume 225, page 179. From the entry ambitionate
- What emerges is a softly supernatural story about a futurist who behaved as selfishly as any retrograde male genius.2023 April 13, Amy Nicholson, “‘Hilma’ Review: An Artist With Spirit”, in The New York Times. From the entry selfishly
- There was a ball-pein hammer on a ledge above the doorjamb and Kidd reached up softly and took it down.2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 123. From the entry ball-pein hammer
- Flick your wrist at an angle while softly pressing the mouse button downward to perform a drag click.2022 August 22, “Top 3 Clicking Methods To Improve Mouse Clicking Speed”, in Deccan Herald, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 Mar 2023. From the entry drag click
- This softly spoken but fluent communicator describes himself as an introvert who prefers not to shout from the rooftops.2021 January 13, Paul Clifton, “Delivering a basis for rail changes”, in RAIL, issue 922, page 30. From the entry introvert
- He gently pushed Laura’s hand away. ‘Don’t, Lol,’ he said softly before turning to Tara with a hopeful expression.2017, Dianne Maguire, Things We Cannot See, HarperImpulse, →ISBN. From the entry lol
- "It wasn't just the crowds," Luis said softly.2014, Michael Nava, The City of Palaces, Terrace Books, page 191. From the entry peonage
- “Don’t call him a darkie, Baby Hugh,” Edith said softly.2014, Johnny D. Boggs, chapter 12, in Poison Spring: A Frontier Story, Ashland, Ore.: Blackstone Publishing, published 2017, →ISBN. From the entry all rights
- “Be quiet,”I said, as softly as I could.2013, Mary Jane Maffini, Speak Ill of the Dead. From the entry judgely
- The bowsman’s arrow took flight and Nissa swore softly.2012, Claire Delacroix, The Warrior (The Rogues of Ravensmuir; book 3), Deborah A. Cooke, →ISBN. From the entry bowsman
- Then a litty bitty word or two spoken softly would.2012, L.See, All of Ya'll Aren't From the North, →ISBN. From the entry litty bitty
- It'd've been just like the old days,' Pat said softly.2011, Margaret Dickinson, Red Sky in the Morning. From the entry it'd've
Meaning of softly
- adverb In a soft manner; gently.
- adverb Not loudly; nearly inaudibly.
- adverb With subdued color; faded or misty with distance.
Questions about softly in a sentence
- How do you use softly in a sentence?
- Softly is used as an adverb. For example: “The masseuse was rubbing my back too softly for my liking, so I asked her to go harder.”
- What is a short sentence with softly?
- “play music softly”
- What does softly mean?
- Softly means in a soft manner; gently.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: softly (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 softly in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/softly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
