Dictionary

gleefully en · ADV

Etymology

Etymology tree English gleeful Middle English -ly English -ly English gleefully From gleeful + -ly.

Meanings

1. With glee; joyfully
   • After refusing to sit down, [Democratic Rep. Al Green of Texas] was escorted out of the House chamber, as some Republican lawmakers gleefully chanted “sha-nah-nah-nah, hey hey hey, goodbye.” 2025 March 5, Cameron Joseph, “After wild six weeks, Trump tells Congress ‘We are just getting started’”, in The Christian Science Monitor, archived from the original on 08 Apr 2025:
   • Of course, the game that was ruining workplace productivity and infrastructure wasn’t innocent Tetris or the nationalistic Wolfenstein 3D—it was a game in which an ultraviolent marine gleefully murdered demons on a satanic Mars. 2021 October 29, Trevor Strunk, “How To Get Away With Making An Ultraviolent Video Game”, in Defector, archived from the original on 22 Feb 2024:
   • Al Habsi, so outstanding at Arsenal on Saturday, somehow scrambled the ball off the line, but only as far as Agbonlahor, who gleefully nodded home his first Premier League goal since last April. 2011 January 25, Les Roopanarine, “Wigan 1 - 2 Aston Villa”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 25 Jun 2022:

Forms

Relateds

gleeful · glee