fixedly

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English[edit]

WOTD – 17 June 2023

Etymology[edit]

From fixed (“not changing; not able to be changed, staying the same”) +‎ -ly (suffix forming adverbs from adjectives).[1]

Pronunciation[edit]

Adverb[edit]

fixedly (comparative more fixedly, superlative most fixedly)

  1. In a fixed manner.
    Synonyms: (obsolete) fixly, (obsolete) statarianly
    1. Firmly, resolutely.
    2. Without changing one's expression; unchangingly.
      • 1989, Carol Shields, “Chemistry”, in Various Miracles, London: Fourth Estate, published 1994, →ISBN, page 219:
        A consultation has been held in the corridor or in the washroom. Rhonda is smiling fixedly. Lonnie H. is looking wise and sad.
    3. Without shifting one's gaze; intently, steadily.
      • 1749, [John Cleland], “[Letter the First]”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], volume I, London: […] G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], →OCLC, pages 18–19:
        She look'd as if ſhe vvould devour me vvith her eyes, ſtaring at me from head to foot, vvithout the leaſt regard to the confuſion and bluſhes her eyeing me ſo fixedly put me to, and vvhich vvere to her, no doubt, the ſtrongeſt recommendation, and marks of my being fit for her purpoſe.
      • 1830 June, Alfred Tennyson, “Madeline”, in Poems. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon, […], published 1842, →OCLC, stanza 3, page 19:
        But when I turn away, / Thou, willing me to stay, / Wooest not, nor vainly wranglest; / But, looking fixedly the while, / All my bounding heart entanglest, / In a golden-netted smile; […]
      • 1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter VII, in The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume II, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 230:
        The old man [William Kiffin] looked fixedly at the king [James II of England], burst into tears, and made answer, "Sir, I am worn out; I am unfit to serve your Majesty or the City. And, sir, the death of my poor boys broke my heart. That wound is as fresh as ever. I shall carry it to my grave."
      • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Quarter-deck”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 177:
        Did you fixedly gaze, too, upon that ribbed and dented brow; there also, you would see still stranger foot-prints—the foot-prints of his one unsleeping, ever-pacing thought.
      • 1897, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “Mr. Teddy Henfrey’s First Impressions”, in The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance, New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC, pages 17–18:
        He felt alone in the room and looked up, and there, grey and dim, was the bandaged head and huge blue lenses staring fixedly, with a mist of green spots drifting in front of them.
      • 1927 May, Virginia Woolf, chapter 7, in To the Lighthouse (Uniform Edition of the Works of Virginia Woolf), new edition, London: Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, […], published 1930, →OCLC, part I (The Window), page 61:
        By looking fixedly at the page, he hoped to make him move on; by pointing his finger at a word, he hoped to recall his mother's attention, which, he knew angrily, wavered instantly his father stopped.

Translations[edit]

firmly, resolutely — see firmly,‎ resolutely
without changing one’s expression — see unchangingly
without shifting one’s gaze — see intently,‎ steadily

References[edit]

  1. ^ “fixedly, adv.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2023; “fixedly, adv.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
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