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firmly

adverb

Form of firm , adverb of firm.

Simple meaning

In a secure way.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

furmlee

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈfɝmli

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adverb

  1. manner

    In a firm or definite or strong manner.

  2. manner

    In a secure manner; in a manner free from danger

  3. Definitively.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: (manner) In a firm or definite or strong manner.

Used this way, firmly is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use firmly

  • “We firmly believed it.”adverb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Firm

firmly convinced

Secure

firmly fixed

Other combinations

firmly establishedfirmly believefirmly believedfirmly attachedfirmly heldnow firmly

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • firmnounBase word

    The members of a business organization that owns or operates one or more establishments.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • firmnessnounDerived noun

    The muscle tone of healthy tissue.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • firm upverbRelated term

    Arrange firmly.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.