intenselyadv.
/ɪnˈtɛnsli/, U.S. /ᵻnˈtɛnsli/ In an intense degree or manner.† 2. With strenuous effort, attention, or exertion; eagerly, earnestly, intently. Obsolete or merged in sense 1.
1.
a. In a very high degree; very greatly, strongly, or deeply; violently, vehemently; extremely.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb]
stronglyeOE
felec950
strongeOE
highlyOE
highOE
greatlya1200
stourlya1225
greata1325
dreec1330
deeplya1400
mightya1400
dreichlyc1400
mighty?a1425
sorec1440
mainlyc1450
greatumly1456
madc1487
profoundly1489
stronglya1492
muchwhata1513
shrewlya1529
heapa1547
vengeance?1548
sorely1562
smartlyc1580
mightly1582
mightily1587
violently1601
intensively1604
almightily1612
violent1629
seriously1643
intensely1646
importunately1660
shrewdly1664
gey1686
sadly1738
plenty1775
vitally1787
substantively1795
badly1813
far1814
heavily1819
serious1825
measurably1834
dearly1843
bally1939
majorly1955
sizzlingly1956
majorly1978
fecking1983
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica iii. xxi. 161 They intensly heat the aire above their surface. View more context for this quotation
1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 53 (note) Intensely cold Anights.
1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 303. ¶1 There are some which glow more intensely, and dart a stronger Light than others.
1850 W. Wordsworth Prelude xii. 324 I loved whate'er I saw: nor lightly loved, But most intensely.
1897 M. Kingsley Trav. W. Afr. 560 Sticky, slippery mud, intensely sticky, and intensely slippery.
b. With intense feeling, expression, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > intense emotion > [adverb]
deepa1000
inwardlya1000
inlyOE
mortallyc1390
deeplya1400
keena1400
keenlya1400
from the bottom of one's hearta1413
from (also fro) one's heart1477
profoundly1489
from the spleen?a1505
sensibly1577
with sense1578
smartlyc1580
soakingly1593
dearly1604
intimately1637
viscerally1637
exquisitely1678
sensitively1793
exaltedly1855
intensely1860
1860 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters V. 93 Titian will only paint a fan or a wristband intensely, never a flower.
1886 E. Dowden Life Shelley I. ii. 41 He lived intensely in his own imaginings, wise or idle, beautiful or feebly extravagant.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > [adverb]
hardOE
sorea1300
mightilya1400
strenuously1602
intenselya1631
effortfully1961
a1631 J. Donne Βιαθανατος (1647) ii. v. §1 To doe even that, so intensly, as we neglect our office of Society.
1659 J. Milton Let. Rupture Commonw. in Wks. (1698) II. 779 I began to consider more intensly theron than hitherto I have bin wont.
1743 J. Davidson tr. Virgil Æneid iv. 35 Trojans intensely ply their work.
1856 B. Brodie Psychol. Inq. (ed. 3) I. iii. 84 He had had his thoughts intensely fixed for a considerable time on an..imaginary object.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adv.a1631