hotly

adverb

hot·​ly ˈhät-lē How to pronounce hotly (audio)
: in a hot manner
a hotly contested series

Examples of hotly in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Biologists hotly debate whether the significant evolutionary changes that led to jawed vertebrates, from hagfish to humans, are connected by ancient gene duplications hundreds of millions of years ago. — Carrie Arnold contributing, Quanta Magazine, 2 Sep. 2026 Meanwhile, according to competing teams also using AI to make progress in the field, new superconductor discoveries are hotly anticipated today. — Alan Patterson, IEEE Spectrum, 2 Sep. 2026 Yet, Stella Lefty’s rise has been hotly debated — conversations about nepotism, originality, and TikTok’s influence on the music industry have taken over. — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 31 Aug. 2026 Light While the tech world is hotly anticipating next month's Apple event and the unveiling of the iPhone Ultra, the company's first foldable, Light is expanding their tech stack with a folding device of their own. — Anthony Karcz, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for hotly

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of hotly was before the 12th century

Browse Nearby Words

hot logging
hotly
hot-melt
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Hotly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hotly. Accessed 7 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of gist

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

A List of Most Commonly Confused Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 4
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
anagrams on a chalk board
Word Builder Quiz Vol. 2 Pick the letter that when added to a word will ma...
See All