fairlyfair‧ly /ˈfeəli $ ˈferli/ ●●● S1 W2 adverb 
The house had a fairly large garden. She speaks English fairly well. The instructions seem fairly straightforward.2in a way that is fair, honest, and reasonable: I felt I hadn’t been treated fairly.3British English old-fashioned used to emphasize the degree, force etc of an action: He fairly raced past us on his bike.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- She was fairly certain that she had been there before.
- The disease is still fairly common in many countries.
- The house had a fairly large garage.
- The house has a fairly big living room.
- And yet, if we are asked to multiply by five, we will usually go through a fairly laborious process.
- But most religious thinkers accommodated themselves fairly rapidly to the basic concept of evolution.
- He was going with some one at the time, but it was a fairly casual relationship from what I could tell.
- In contradistinction to concentrating ability, diluting ability is fairly well-preserved in renal failure.
- It was, as Tom had said it would be, a fairly small affair.
- Now we are fairly sure that change speeds up at some times, slows down at others.
- She reached one arm back and grabbed the rope while Amy fairly clawed at the head.
Longman Language Activatorwhen a situation or decision is fair
if something is fairly heavy, fairly easy etc, it is more than a little heavy or easy, but it is not very heavy or very easy: · The house has a fairly big living room.· She was fairly certain that she had been there before.· The disease is still fairly common in many countries.
especially British if something is quite heavy, quite easy etc, it is more than a little heavy or easy, but it is not very heavy or very easy: · The hotel was quite expensive.· Geoffrey was young, handsome and probably quite wealthy.· I quite like it here but I'd rather live in Manchester.quite a long way/a nice day/a good book etc: · It's quite a long way to the church from here.· I thought it was quite an interesting movie.quite a lot: · Mick and Carla have been together quite a lot recently.
spoken more than a little, but not very: · It's pretty cold today.· "It's pretty tough work," he wearily confessed.· "Hi Beth, how are you?" "Pretty good. And you?"· I felt pretty nervous going into the exam, but after I got started I loosened up some.
formal more than a little, but not very: · The food was only moderately good - nothing special.· The guidebook describes the climb as "moderately difficult".· While his career as a pro football player was moderately successful, he certainly wasn't famous.· She did moderately well in her final examinations.
especially British much more than a little, but not very - use this especially to describe something bad, unsuitable etc: · Gail seems rather unhappy today.· The attendance figures for this year's festival were rather disappointing.rather a long way/a short dress etc: · Unfortunately, we're rather a long way from the airport.rather a lot: · She was wearing rather a lot of make-up.
formal use this especially to talk about something that is in fact more than a little annoying, big, high etc but you do not want to say this directly: · The ambassador looked somewhat irritated by the interruption.· My husband has a somewhat higher opinion of Mr Jones than I do.· This year's celebrations should be somewhat larger than last year's.
to a satisfactory level or degree: · She speaks Spanish reasonably well.· Kevin is a hard worker and reasonably intelligent but he has never been promoted.· Chao is still in reasonably good health.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES Police believe Derek gave a reasonably accurate account of what happened. Our new computer software is extremely flexible. Installing the program is relatively straightforward.
Police believe Derek gave a reasonably accurate account of what happened.· Opposition to the changes is fairly certain.
· The available data on world population is reasonably comprehensive.
· I think £100 for a meal is rather excessive, to say the least.
· The food’s quite expensive, but it’s really nice.
Our new computer software is extremely flexible.· His family all seem pretty normal.
(also pretty obvious spoken)· There are some fairly obvious signs of a poor diet.
· The two species are quite similar.
· The rules are quite simple.
Installing the program is relatively straightforward.· I just want to be treated fairly.
· I may have thrown it away by mistake, but that’s pretty unlikely.
· The design of the house was somewhat unusual.
· The book is pretty useless for today's students.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE· One must have a fairly accurate idea of the patient's weight.· Both newspapers gave fairly accurate accounts of what had happened the night before last.· After a while it grew apparent that Tara's verdict on Guy was fairly accurate.· As a result the accounts produced will tend to reflect a fairly accurate view of the profitability of the business.· Linear, scientific perspective allows for a fairly accurate mental reconstruction of the distances separating objects.· Quality of the written report: A fairly accurate picture, but raised no new, major issues.· The estimate of three revolutions for three overflow records will thus be fairly accurate in this case.
· Though afterwards she was fairly certain that Naylor had always meant to reject her anyway.· They were fairly certain he was immune; certain enough to consider it worth the risk, at any rate.· At least when face-to-face contact is made you are fairly certain that the message gets through.· Of one thing I am fairly certain, namely that the glassfibre Seayak will carve through waves better.· However, we are fairly certain of some features that such a unified theory should have.· But something that is by definition inefficient is fairly certain also to be undignified.· He was fairly certain she had no idea of how gentle he had been, how thoughtful.· He was fairly certain now that he was walking into a trap, and wished he'd come armed.
· Conclusions: There is a fairly clear trend in all bands, apart from the oldest plants.· They are more open as to style and time deadlines, but still have fairly clear purposes and objectives for their organization.· On this point, the evidence seems fairly clear.· In terms of physical diseases, this ambiguity is fairly clear.· By that time, the patterns of usage - still being developed as far as mathematics is concerned - will have become fairly clear.· Some of the plantations up north near Tay Ninh were in operation and were fairly clear of underbrush.· The reefs in deep water off Devon and Cornwall are fairly clear and have given steady sport.· It seems fairly clear that it is possible to make this argument in a convincing way.
· I've had a fairly close watch kept on me.· The hostel was fairly close to town and no-one could complain about the prices.· There's a great wooded area fairly close to the town - including the wonderfully named Tolpuddle Hollow and Puddletown Heath.· The end of this breakwater only becomes clear when fairly close, but otherwise the approaches to the main port are simple.· He himself had other plans, although for the moment he was keeping them fairly close to his chest.· Even better, Mala was being fairly close to friendly towards me, making her very good company.· There is therefore a fairly close correlation between the owning and trading memberships.· We moved out of the flat a few weeks after and found a house fairly close to Kate and Alison's.
· Over the same period university expenditure, where more research is undertaken, was fairly constant at about £5,200 per student.· Self-control and maturity are necessary for success as a pro athlete, because athletic ability is fairly constant at this level.· Dempster represents the biter-bit brigade, being a fairly constant topic whenever journos gather together.· Everyone was in a fairly constant state of edgy anticipation and nervousness throughout the tour.· Without fairly constant monitoring it will be hard to tell.· The overall success rate has remained fairly constant over the years at about one in five cases.· The proportion not living with a partner as a part of a couple stayed fairly constant at about one in five.
· Up to this stage it will have been fairly easy for them to break off their activities should the occasion demand it.· It was a beautiful theory, and it was fairly easy to understand.· Absolute poverty is then fairly easy to define in objective though gruesome terms.· By the time students complete the first grade, it is fairly easy to assess students' basic academic skills.· Cultivation is apparently fairly easy and details of where to get the plants are available.· Fortunately, the elements are fairly easy to replace.· Fortunately, most are still fairly easy to spot, and usually catch out only new users, but they will improve.· If something goes haywire, it should be fairly easy to isolate the offending software.
· I reckon it's fairly good, what do you think of it?· Even then these stubborn blue lines retreated in fairly good order.· By now you should have a fairly good idea of the possible use of a book.· Cars came by occasionally, usually at a fairly good clip.· This allowed for fairly good availability of well selected donor organs thus more easily facilitating an urgent transplant programme.· Job Outlook Qualified accountants and auditors are expected to have fairly good job prospects.· If all these occur it is a fairly good indication that you should tack.· And at times, a fairly good one.
· He won the national championship in one season and finished fairly high in another season.· I thought this constituted revenge of a fairly high order, thought it all out in advance.· The evening meal is also fairly high in fat and sugar.· The company received fairly high marks in Clark County, where it began managing mental health services in January 1996.· Turnover in equities was fairly high at 843m shares.· But women are fairly high on the list.· He was with Leeds for only 3 and 1/3 seasons but he must be fairly high in the list of all-time scorers.· That main block is fairly high and has two levels.
· It grew quickly, putting six fairly large eaves on the water surface - but the Kissers ignored them.· We had a fairly large tent city, with some improvements, within a matter of two or three days of arrival.· This species is one of a fairly large genus that survives today.· Two of the rooms were fairly large and, from the remaining pipes and sinks, looked to be defunct laboratories.· Function Room fairly large, and good seating for around 100 people.· In this case, that meant covering the considerable travel expenses for Hawking, who travels with a fairly large support group.· I continued playing as the Brigadier sped away in his jeep, to the cheers of the fairly large crowd.· It was a fairly large room, opening out on both sides to comfortable-sized verandahs.
· The idea is fairly low on the list of Government prison priorities at the moment.· You want it fairly low, without your wrist on the table.· Nightlife is fairly low key, and centres mainly around restaurants and bars, although there is one disco.· This is fairly low level stuff and suffers from some poor diagrams.· Millions of cycles are sold every year, but usage is still fairly low.· Protection usually began at fairly low rates.· Forestry and water A. The price, or value, of the moorlands is fairly low.· A few of the questions yielded low or fairly low success rates even for the top third of pupils.
· These projects have accompanying newsletters and being fairly new ventures welcome feedback.· Many of the ideas we have about work, including the freedom to choose any career we want, are fairly new.· He had to be fairly new, she decided.· We drove out to the beach where, fifty feet from the crashing waves, a fairly new bungalow stood.· Some varieties of waterlilies are fairly new to cultivation whereas the majority of well known cultivars date back years.· Lauri and I were fairly new in the business.· After that it's a dirt road, but fairly new.
· I think it's fairly obvious why.· It should be fairly obvious that the choice of air appropriate discount rate is a key decision in the capital budgeting process.· Many of its effects are fairly obvious and generally acknowledged.· It should be fairly obvious that the effect of an expense is to decrease owners' equity.· The need for a high degree of safety should be fairly obvious.· To Carol Wilson, however, it became fairly obvious that Copeland wanted to sign Sting's publishing to his own company.· The advantages of using systematic numbering should be fairly obvious.
· August is a fairly quiet month in Shetland apart from social functions like sailing regattas.· It's usually fairly quiet at lunchtime.· He only hoped she would be promptly at her desk, the place fairly quiet, routine just beginning for the day.· She had thought her birthday was going to be fairly quiet and uneventful.· It was fairly quiet, just one or two elderly men conversing over a pint.· Offstage he was fairly quiet, preoccupied.
· Oh yeah, one more thing: Since a fairly recent accident, Linkous has limited use of his legs.· Cultural predisposition Recognition that cultural pressures on women to diet contribute to anorexia nervosa has had a fairly recent history.· There are three fairly recent rule changes of which you should be aware.· Their preserved counterpart, the sun-dried cherry, is a fairly recent gourmet discovery, however.· The castle was occupied until fairly recent times.· The immune system is a fairly recent invention in geological terms.
· Ventura is an excellent package to use if you want to create long and fairly regular documents like technical manuals or books.· I did have one fairly regular customer though, and it was amazing how we started off.· None the less, even in this period, the economy has been subjected to fairly regular cycles of minor expansions and recessions.· I was able to go to Westminster for fairly regular lectures and we added anthropology to our social psychology studies.
· This is quite effective on clipped horses or those with fairly short coats.· The magazine-article format keeps each of the 16 pieces fairly short and easy to read.· I mean you're unusually tall for a driver, but most of them have to be fairly short.· I wrote four or five fairly short stories a week.· Other than in large championship races, windsurfers tend to use fairly short beats so their influence is decreased.· For fairly short distances l.e.d.'s are quite satisfactory.· This was the third time over a fairly short period.· This is one reason to choose a fairly short key for indexed sequential use.
· First, the fairly simple trick of separating two component parts of a clue by a number of pages.· Some of the boats chiselled into the rocks are fairly simple.· It was fairly simple to devise an educational jump-start for her.· Voice over It's fairly simple to spot the difference between the real thing and a fake.· It also would be fairly simple to operate, making it more likely that parents would use it.· The operations of the mind which he describes are reduced to two fairly simple activities.· The salmon was fairly simple, just some thinly sliced grilled fish on unremarkable toast points.
· The nose probably started out fairly small, like that of, say, the modern tapir.· Sleeping specialists believe that long-term use of sleeping pills should be restricted to a fairly small group of patients.· A fairly small course is needed with an upwind.· Smartly kept family-run place with just fourteen fairly small but well-equipped rooms.· It was, as Tom had said it would be, a fairly small affair.· It was well received by a fairly small house.· Lunch will be fairly small and might feature a salad or small sandwich with a low-fat filling, or yogurt and fruit.· The mill originally had two sets of fairly small stones of approximately 2' diameter, which have not survived.
· Monetarists argue that the demand for money is inelastic with respect to interest rates and also fairly stable over time.· Probably, although surely there is a core of fairly stable synapses.· This proportionate share of crime has remained fairly stable during the past decade.· After the Second World War, the numbers received annually kept fairly stable, unlike the parallel figures for men.· Prices of cocaine, crack and heroin were fairly stable in 1989 and 1990.· Since then immigration has been fairly stable.· Secondly, under a wide variety of circumstances, what we see in various situations remains fairly stable.· The details of its internal structure varied somewhat from time to time, but the main lines remained fairly stable.
· The service you get is fairly standard, with no apparent limits imposed on storage space or attachment size.· Now fairly standard practice across the country, the employee magazine was new to us when it was suggested.· Pitching: a fairly standard geodesic shape which is easy to erect.· This particular specimen given was fairly standard.· This is a fairly standard refrain.· This was fairly standard stuff, but I deplored her tone.· Doubtless words do sometimes have emotive effects, and some ethical words may have fairly standard such effects in certain communities.· Many were fairly standard provisions for bad debts, and so forth.
· Apply some fairly strong pressure to the lower back with the heels of your hands.· And the cast is fairly strong.· Other conditions: Light: Requires a fairly strong light from the top.· Demand has been fairly strong throughout this whole bizarre episode....· Obviously a brush and comb are essential, and these should both be of a fairly strong, sturdy design.· Fiscally, Chicago is in a fairly strong position for an older city.· I was involved in some fairly strong tackling and didn't feel a thing.· That would be a fairly strong buy signal.
· In these greenhouses there are seedlings which you can be fairly sure the neighbours won't have.· I was fairly sure what had happened.· She was fairly sure that didn't make sense, but wasn't prepared to argue.· I was also fairly sure we would find ample evidence of their connections to the increased arson and bombing attacks on clinics.· After a few days, she was certain, everyone at the lodge would be fairly sure of who she really was.· Now we are fairly sure that change speeds up at some times, slows down at others.· The head was not, he was fairly sure, her type.· She would come around, he was fairly sure.
· Setting out the structure So, to take a fairly typical example, let's begin to design a newsletter.· She had been, in other words, a fairly typical student.· From one fairly typical grammar school, studied by Colin Lacey, the fee-payers had almost disappeared as early as 1925.· The basic components we will describe are fairly typical.· This palace is fairly typical of the building development in the Malá Strana.· This reaction is fairly typical for children who have some problems with aggression but who none the less have good potential.· Highlander's initial involvement with the Yellow Creek people followed a fairly typical pattern.· Atwater was more colorful and more publicly vicious than most, but his tactics were fairly typical.
VERB· But even so, in our modern approach, they must act fairly: and the court will see that they do.· In the case of exchanges it usually translates into a general contractual duty to act fairly.· Although they were under a duty to act fairly, they had not broken this duty.· In all aspects of our personal lending business, we shall act fairly and responsibly.· Following this there was some suggestion that in administrative decisions there was a lower duty to act fairly.· The exchange's duty to act fairly means without arbitrariness or capriciousness, and on the basis of relevant considerations.
· This proportionate share of crime has remained fairly stable during the past decade.· The overall success rate has remained fairly constant over the years at about one in five cases.· Nicholson remained fairly ambivalent about the thought of having a son, mainly, he explained, because of Anspach's attitude.· Ownership incursions have remained fairly small.· Secondly, under a wide variety of circumstances, what we see in various situations remains fairly stable.· The details of its internal structure varied somewhat from time to time, but the main lines remained fairly stable.· BMany of these children have parents who remain fairly functional -- often for years.
· Whatever the reasons, Easton's police agree in what seem fairly general conceptualizations of police work.· But the marketplace seems fairly flooded with Grateful Dead recordings this fall.· Now I had a pair who were not from the same parents and who seemed fairly suited.· In hindsight, these ideas about mixing seem fairly simplistic to modern geophysicists.· On this point, the evidence seems fairly clear.· The situation seemed fairly calm, I remember, when the first group of us arrived.· In Highgate our family had seemed fairly normal, but in St. Albans I think we were definitely regarded as eccentric.· Even when it does get to them, they seem fairly insecticide-tolerant.
· Does a father who is convinced that his child is being fairly treated burst into the classroom and attack the teacher?· Symington said he is confident that the district judge will find that the tribe has been treated fairly.· They are not being fairly treated by the Department.· Second, there is a duty to ensure that different sections of the public have been fairly treated.· The organisation must ensure that employees believe that they are being treated fairly in comparison with others.· I do not believe that the genuine asylum seeker will be treated fairly.
WORD FAMILYadverbfairly ≠ unfairlyfairnounfairness ≠ unfairnessadjectivefair ≠ unfair
1[+adjective/adverb] more than a little, but much less than very: The house had a fairly large garden. She speaks English fairly well. The instructions seem fairly straightforward.2in a way that is fair, honest, and reasonable: I felt I hadn’t been treated fairly.3British English old-fashioned used to emphasize the degree, force etc of an action: He fairly raced past us on his bike.