100+ Adverbs of Manner with Opposites, Meanings, and Examples

List of Adverbs of Manners and their opposite words

Adverbs of manner describe how an action is done. They usually answer the question “How?” and often end in “-ly”.

Examples:

1. She speaks softly. (How does she speak? Softly.)
2. He runs quickly. (How does he run? Quickly.)
3. They worked hard. (How did they work? Hard.)
4. She danced gracefully. (How did she dance? Gracefully.)
5. He wrote neatly. (How did he write? Neatly.)

Not all adverbs of manner end in “-ly” (e.g., fast, hard, well).

Here is the table with opposite words, meanings, and examples for each adverb of manner:

PART 1

Adverb	Opposite	Meaning	Example Sentence
Abruptly	Gradually	Suddenly, without warning	He left abruptly without saying goodbye.
Accidentally	Intentionally	By chance, not on purpose	She accidentally spilled the water.
Accurately	Inaccurately	Without errors, precisely	He measured the ingredients accurately.
Angrily	Calmly	With anger	She spoke angrily to her brother.
Anxiously	Confidently	With worry or nervousness	He waited anxiously for the results.
Assertively	Timidly	With confidence and firmness	She spoke assertively in the meeting.
Awkwardly	Gracefully	In a clumsy or uncomfortable way	He danced awkwardly at the party.
Badly	Well	Poorly, in a bad way	He performed badly in the exam.
Beautifully	Unattractively	In a pleasing or lovely way	She painted the picture beautifully.
Blindly	Cautiously	Without thinking or seeing	He followed orders blindly.
Boldly	Fearfully	With courage	She spoke boldly against injustice.
Bravely	Cowardly	With courage	The soldier fought bravely.
Brightly	Dimly	With a lot of light	The stars shone brightly in the sky.
Briskly	Slowly	Quickly, energetically	He walked briskly to the office.
Busily	Idly	In a hardworking manner	She was working busily all day.
Calmly	Anxiously	Peacefully, without stress	He handled the situation calmly.
Carefully	Carelessly	With attention and caution	She packed her bag carefully.
Carelessly	Carefully	Without caution or attention	He carelessly dropped his phone.
Cautiously	Recklessly	With care to avoid risks	He drove cautiously on the icy road.
Cheerfully	Sadly	Happily, with joy	She greeted everyone cheerfully.
Clearly	Unclear	In an easy-to-understand way	He explained the topic clearly.
Closely	Distantly	Near or with attention	She watched the experiment closely.
Confidently	Nervously	With self-assurance	He spoke confidently during the speech.
Correctly	Incorrectly	Without mistakes	She answered all the questions correctly.
Courageously	Fearfully	With bravery	He acted courageously in the fire.
Cruelly	Kindly	Without mercy	The villain treated the prisoners cruelly.
Daringly	Cautiously	With boldness, taking risks	He daringly jumped into the river.
Deliberately	Accidentally	On purpose	She deliberately ignored the question.
Directly	Indirectly	In a straight manner	He looked directly into my eyes.
Doubtfully	Certainly	With uncertainty	She answered the question doubtfully.
Eagerly	Reluctantly	With great interest	The children waited eagerly for the show.
Easily	Difficultly	Without effort	She solved the puzzle easily.
Elegantly	Clumsily	With style and grace	She walked elegantly into the room.
Emotionally	Indifferently	With deep feelings	He reacted emotionally to the news.
Enormously	Slightly	Very greatly	The company grew enormously.
Enthusiastically	Unwillingly	With excitement	He participated enthusiastically.
Equally	Unequally	In the same manner	The prize was shared equally.
Eventually	Immediately	After some time	He eventually understood the problem.
Exactly	Approximately	With precision	She followed the recipe exactly.
Faithfully	Disloyally	With loyalty	The dog waited faithfully for its owner.
Fast	Slowly	Quickly	He ran fast to catch the bus.
Fatally	Harmlessly	Causing death	He was fatally injured in the accident.
Fiercely	Gently	In a violent or aggressive manner	The lion roared fiercely.
Firmly	Weakly	With strength and determination	She held his hand firmly.
Fluently	Haltingly	With ease and flow	She speaks French fluently.
Fondly	Coldly	With affection	He looked at her fondly.
Foolishly	Wisely	Without thinking	He spent all his money foolishly.
Fortunately	Unfortunately	Luckily	Fortunately, no one was hurt.
Frankly	Secretively	Openly and honestly	He spoke frankly about his past.
Frantically	Calmly	In a hurried and chaotic manner	She searched for her keys frantically.
Generously	Selfishly	In a giving and kind way	He donated money generously.

PART 2

Adverb	Opposite	Meaning	Example Sentence
Gently	Roughly	Softly, with care	She patted the dog gently.
Gladly	Unwillingly	Happily, with pleasure	He gladly accepted the gift.
Gracefully	Awkwardly	Elegantly, with beauty	She danced gracefully.
Greedily	Generously	With excessive desire	He ate the cake greedily.
Haphazardly	Carefully	In a disorderly way	He packed his bag haphazardly.
Happily	Sadly	With joy	She smiled happily.
Hard	Softly	With force, with effort	He knocked on the door hard.
Hastily	Slowly	Quickly, without thinking	She replied hastily.
Healthily	Unhealthily	In a way that promotes good health	She eats healthily.
Hesitantly	Confidently	With uncertainty	He spoke hesitantly.
Honestly	Dishonestly	Truthfully	She answered honestly.
Hungrily	Contentedly	With great need for food	He ate his meal hungrily.
Hurriedly	Leisurely	In a rush	He left the house hurriedly.
Inadequately	Sufficiently	Not enough	The project was funded inadequately.
Ingeniously	Foolishly	In a clever way	He solved the problem ingeniously.
Innocently	Guiltily	Without wrongdoing	She looked at him innocently.
Inquisitively	Indifferently	With curiosity	He asked questions inquisitively.
Instinctively	Deliberately	Without thinking, naturally	She reacted instinctively.
Irritably	Patiently	In an annoyed way	He answered irritably.
Joyfully	Miserably	With happiness	She danced joyfully.
Joyously	Sadly	Happily, with celebration	The crowd cheered joyously.
Justly	Unfairly	In a fair and honest way	The judge ruled justly.
Kindly	Cruelly	In a nice and considerate manner	She spoke to the child kindly.
Lazily	Actively	Without energy or effort	He completed his work lazily.
Loosely	Tightly	Not firmly	He tied the rope loosely.
Loudly	Quietly	With a lot of noise	The children laughed loudly.
Madly	Sanely	Without control	He drove madly through traffic.
Methodically	Randomly	In an organized way	She arranged the files methodically.
Mortally	Harmlessly	In a deadly way	He was mortally wounded.
Mysteriously	Clearly	In a secret or strange way	The door opened mysteriously.
Neatly	Messily	In an orderly way	She wrote neatly.
Nervously	Confidently	With anxiety	He spoke nervously in the interview.
Noisily	Quietly	With a lot of noise	The children played noisily.
Obediently	Disobediently	Following orders	The dog sat obediently.
Openly	Secretively	Without hiding anything	She spoke openly about her views.
Painfully	Painlessly	With pain	He walked painfully on his injured foot.
Patiently	Impatiently	Without frustration	She waited patiently in line.
Perfectly	Imperfectly	Without flaws	She performed perfectly.
Playfully	Seriously	In a fun and lighthearted manner	The puppy jumped playfully.
Politely	Rudely	With good manners	He greeted the teacher politely.
Poorly	Well	In a bad way	He performed poorly in the test.
Powerfully	Weakly	With great strength	He punched powerfully.
Precisely	Approximately	Exactly	She followed the instructions precisely.
Promptly	Slowly	Without delay	He responded promptly.
Punctually	Tardily	On time	She arrived punctually for the meeting.
Quickly	Slowly	At a fast speed	He ran quickly.
Quietly	Loudly	With little noise	She entered the room quietly.
Randomly	Systematically	Without a pattern	The numbers were selected randomly.
Rapidly	Gradually	Very fast	The disease spread rapidly.
Rarely	Frequently	Not often	She rarely eats junk food.
Really	Falsely	Truly, genuinely	He was really happy.
Recklessly	Cautiously	Without thinking of the consequences	He drove recklessly.
Regularly	Occasionally	At fixed intervals	He exercises regularly.
Relaxedly	Tensely	In a relaxed manner	She spoke relaxedly.
Reluctantly	Willingly	Without eagerness	He agreed reluctantly.
Repeatedly	Once	Again and again	She called him repeatedly.
Rightfully	Wrongfully	In a fair way	He claimed the land rightfully.
Rigidly	Flexibly	Without change or movement	She followed the rules rigidly.
Rigorously	Loosely	Strictly, with great detail	The plan was checked rigorously.
Roughly	Smoothly	In a harsh way	He handled the package roughly.
Rudely	Politely	Without manners	He interrupted rudely.
Sadly	Happily	With sorrow	She sighed sadly.
Safely	Dangerously	Without risk	He crossed the road safely.
Selfishly	Generously	Thinking only of oneself	He acted selfishly.
Sensibly	Foolishly	In a practical way	She spent her money sensibly.
Sensitively	Insensitively	With care for others’ feelings	He responded sensitively.
Seriously	Playfully	In an important or grave manner	She spoke seriously about the issue.

PART 3

Adverb	Opposite	Meaning	Example Sentence
Sharply	Dully	In a sudden or cutting manner	He spoke sharply to his friend.
Shyly	Boldly	In a timid or nervous way	She introduced herself shyly.
Silently	Noisily	Without sound	The students listened silently.
Skillfully	Clumsily	With great ability	He played the piano skillfully.
Sleepily	Energetically	In a tired manner	She answered the phone sleepily.
Slowly	Quickly	At a low speed	He walked slowly.
Smoothly	Roughly	Without difficulty	The event went smoothly.
Softly	Loudly	Gently, with low volume	She spoke softly.
Solemnly	Cheerfully	Seriously, with deep emotion	He spoke solemnly at the funeral.
Speedily	Slowly	At a fast pace	The work was done speedily.
Steadily	Unsteadily	In a firm and controlled way	She climbed the stairs steadily.
Stealthily	Openly	In a secret or quiet way	He moved stealthily through the room.
Sternly	Gently	In a strict manner	The teacher spoke sternly to the class.
Straight	Indirectly	Without deviation	He walked straight home.
Stupidly	Wisely	Without intelligence	He acted stupidly.
Sturdily	Weakly	Strongly, with firmness	He held the ladder sturdily.
Subtly	Obviously	In a delicate or indirect way	She subtly hinted at her feelings.
Successfully	Unsuccessfully	With a good result	She completed the project successfully.
Suddenly	Gradually	Unexpectedly, quickly	The door opened suddenly.
Suspiciously	Trustingly	In a doubtful manner	He looked at me suspiciously.
Swiftly	Slowly	Quickly	The bird flew swiftly.
Tactfully	Tactlessly	In a considerate way	She handled the issue tactfully.
Tenderly	Harshly	With great care and love	He held the baby tenderly.
Tensely	Relaxedly	In a nervous or tight manner	He waited for the results tensely.
Thoughtfully	Carelessly	With deep thought	She listened thoughtfully.
Tightly	Loosely	Firmly, without gaps	He tied the rope tightly.
Truthfully	Falsely	With honesty	She answered truthfully.
Uncertainly	Confidently	Without surety	He spoke uncertainly about his decision.
Unexpectedly	Predictably	Without warning	The news came unexpectedly.
Unflinchingly	Fearfully	Without hesitation	He faced the challenge unflinchingly.
Unpredictably	Predictably	In an uncertain way	The weather changed unpredictably.
Unsteadily	Steadily	Without balance	He walked unsteadily after the injury.
Vibrantly	Dully	With energy and liveliness	She dressed vibrantly.
Victoriously	Defeatedly	With success	The team cheered victoriously.
Vigorously	Weakly	With great force or energy	He shook my hand vigorously.
Violently	Gently	With force and aggression	The storm raged violently.
Vivaciously	Dully	In a lively and energetic way	She danced vivaciously.
Warmly	Coldly	In a friendly and affectionate way	She greeted him warmly.
Weakly	Strongly	Without strength	He stood up weakly.
Wearily	Energetically	In a tired manner	She sighed wearily.
Well	Poorly	In a good or healthy manner	He performed well in the exam.
Wildly	Calmly	In an uncontrolled manner	He waved his hands wildly.
Wisely	Foolishly	With good judgment	She spent her money wisely.

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