highly

adverb

high·​ly ˈhī-lē 

1

: in or to a high place, level, or rank

2

: in or to a high degree or amount

3

: with approval : favorably

Synonyms

• achingly
• almighty
• archly
• awful
• awfully
• badly
• beastly
• blisteringly
• bone
• colossally
• corking
• cracking
• damn
• damned
• dang
• deadly
• desperately
• eminently
• enormously
• especially
• ever
• exceedingly
• exceeding
• extra
• extremely
• fabulously
• fantastically
• far
• fiercely
• filthy
• frightfully
• full
• greatly
• heavily
• hugely
• immensely
• incredibly
• intensely
• jolly
• majorly
• mightily
• mighty
• monstrous [chiefly dialect]
• mortally
• most
• much
• particularly
• passing
• rattling
• real
• really
• right
• roaring
• roaringly
• seriously
• severely
• so
• sore
• sorely
• spanking
• specially
• stinking
• such
• super
• supremely
• surpassingly
• terribly
• that
• thumping
• too
• unco
• uncommonly
• vastly
• very
• vitally
• way
• whacking
• wicked
• wildly

Examples of highly in a Sentence

She is one of the most highly respected journalists in the country.

though she didn't win, she was highly satisfied with her personal results for the marathon

Recent Examples on the Web

Inter have consistently been rated highly by our projections. —Anantaajith Raghuraman, The Athletic, 11 Mar. 2025

Kelly Bowman Flagg, whose 18-year-old son Cooper is highly regarded as one of the best college basketball players in the country, caught the attention of fans on social media after a wild celebration when the Duke star dunked the ball. —Natasha Dye, People.com, 11 Mar. 2025

This water is a highly energy-dense steam-like phase found at temperatures exceeding 375°C (700°F). —Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 11 Mar. 2025

Mountain travel is highly discouraged while the warning is in effect! —Faisal Kutty, Newsweek, 11 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing highly

• highly strung
• highly superior autobiographical memory

Rhymes for highly

• dryly
• kiley
• shyly
• slyly
• smiley
• wily
• wryly

Kids Definition

highly

adverb

high·​ly ˈhī-lē 

1

: very entry 2 sense 1, extremely

highly pleased

2

: with approval

speaks highly of you