meaningfullyadv.
/ˈmiːnɪŋf(ᵿ)li/, /ˈmiːnɪŋfl̩i/, U.S. /ˈminɪŋf(ə)li/ In a meaningful manner.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > high significance, expressiveness > [adverb]
significatively?a1475
significantly1577
expressively?1623
speakingly1640
meaninglya1750
significant1861
pregnantly1878
meaningfully1890
1890 S. J. Duncan Social Departure 262 Orthodocia glanced at me..meaningfully.
1937 Mind 46 385 The finitist must hold..that of ‘the sequence of time intervals’ also, it cannot meaningfully be supposed that it denotes an infinite extension.
1955 Sci. Amer. Aug. 84/2 We cannot meaningfully look for any further sense of ‘rational’.
1961 J. McCabe Mr. Laurel & Mr. Hardy (1962) vi. 122 He must arrange the sequence of action clearly, meaningfully, dramatically.
1988 P. Toynbee End of Journey 204 She could not meaningfully worship with a unitarian, since all her prayer is directed at God through his divine Son.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.1890- alternate current
- alternate generation
- alternate proportion
- alternate-day
- alternate-leaved
- alternate-pinnate
- alternated
- alternateday
- alternateleaved
- alternately
- alternately pinnate
- alternateness
- alternatenesses
- alternatepinnate
- alternates
- alternatim
- alternating
- alternating current
- alternating gradient
- alternating group
- alternating series
- alternating voltage
- alternatingly
- alternation
- alternation of generations