messilyadv.
/ˈmɛsᵻli/, U.S. /ˈmɛsəli/ In a messy manner; in a way that creates a mess (literal and figurative).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > confusion or disorder > untidiness > [adverb]
sluttily1440
untidilyc1440
sluttishly1491
slovenly1548
sloven-like1589
slouchingly1858
slouchily1890
messily1914
1914 Conc. Oxf. Dict. Addenda 1055/1 Messily adv.
1920 K. Burke Let. 6 Sept. in Sel. Corr. K. Burke & M. Cowley (1988) 778 I detest messy things, but so far it has been my fate to write messily.
1925 A. Huxley Those Barren Leaves iv. iii. 291 Miss Elver..was eating chocolate éclairs and meringues, messily, with an expression of rapture on her cream-smeared face.
1949 J. D. Carr Life Sir A. Conan Doyle xix. 282 At moated Birlstone Manor, a man is messily murdered with a shotgun amid curious clues.
1969 V. Nabokov Ada ii. iii. 356 A cauliflowered candle was messily burning in its tin cup on the window ledge.
1995 K. Toolis Rebel Hearts (1996) v. 266 Frankie's parents were messily divorced.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.1914