OriginFrom Middle English *hotly, *hatliche, from Old English hātlīċe (“ardently, fervently”); equivalent to hot + -ly.
- With great amounts of heat.
- In a heated manner; intensely or vehemently.
“In my excitement I had not been taking notice of other things, and I looked up to see the lord of the harem charging down upon me. Again I fled to the boat, hotly pursued; but this time Maud made no s”
“"You are really intolerable!" said I, hotly.”
“It is interesting that this argument should have come up at this moment," Mr. Smith adds, "when the subject is being debated so hotly in the field of the petrol-driven internal combustion engine."”
Formsmore hotly(comparative) · most hotly(superlative)