Amazingly is an adverb describing something done in an amazing or astonishing manner. It typically emphasizes a high degree of surprise or admiration and is used to modify verbs, adjectives, or entire clauses. The word blends the adjective amazing with the adverbial suffix -ly, signaling manner or degree in a vivid, almost surprisal-inducing way.
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"The magician performed amazingly, drawing gasps from the audience."
"She completed the marathon amazingly quickly, finishing with a personal best."
"The evidence came together amazingly well, convincing the jury."
"They navigated the tricky puzzle amazingly despite limited clues."
amazingly derives from the adjective amazing, itself from the Old English amaesian (to terrify, to amaze) and the Latin root admirare (to admire, to wonder). The suffix -ly enters English as a productive adverbial marker around the 14th century, forming words that express manner (happily, quickly). The sense shifted from “causing awe or fear” to “causing astonishment or admiration” as usage broadened in Middle English to early Modern English. By the 17th–18th centuries, amazingly became common as an intensifier: doing something in a way that is astonishing or extraordinary. In contemporary usage, amazingly often connotes a strong positive assessment, sometimes with a hint of hyperbole, and is frequently placed before the verb or at clause boundaries for emphasis.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "amazingly" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "amazingly" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "amazingly"
-ely sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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Pronounce as ə-MAY-zɪŋ-lee. The primary stress falls on the second syllable of amazing (MAY). Start with a schwa in the first syllable, then a long 'a' as in may, followed by the unstressed 'zing' (zɪŋ) and end with a clear 'lee' (li). IPA: US /əˈmeɪ.zɪŋ.li/, UK /əˈmeɪ.zɪŋ.li/, AU /əˈmeɪ.zɪŋ.li/.
Common errors: 1) Dropping the second syllable stress and compressing the word into a flat 'amazing-lee' with weak zɪŋ; 2) Misplacing the primary stress on the first syllable (A-maz-ing-ly) leading to odd intonation; 3) Slurring the 'z' into a 'y' or 's' sound. Correction: keep ə as a light, neutral initial vowel, ensure primary stress on the MAY of amazing, clearly articulate zɪŋ, and end with a crisp li. Use slow practice with IPA cues: ə-ˈmeɪ- zɪŋ- li.
US and UK share the same /əˈmeɪ.zɪŋ.li/ pattern, with minor vowel quality differences: US tends to a slightly tighter /ɪ/ in zɪŋ and a faster overall tempo; UK may feature a marginally longer /ɔː/ for certain speakers but generally remains rhotic-free in luxury dialects only on /r/; Australian tends toward vowel flattening and a more centralized /ɪ/; dialects may show subtle rounding in the final 'li'. All keep the primary stress on MAY.
Key challenges: the two consonant clusters across the word (/mz/ in zɪŋ plus the final /lɪ/) require clean separation in rapid speech, and the primary stress on /ˈmeɪ/ is crucial for natural sounding speech. Beginners often flatten the middle syllable or mispronounce /z/ as /s/ or glide into /l/ without full articulation. Practice by isolating the middle 'zɪŋ' with a tight jaw and a slight 'z' friction, then attach the trailing 'li' with a crisp syllable boundary.
A word-specific feature is the split syllable boundary after the second phoneme: ə-MAY- zɪŋ- li. The alveolar fricative z in zɪŋ must be crisp and not swallowed; the trailing -li forms a light, unstressed syllable, but in careful speech you maintain a clear 'lee' without devoicing. The combination of a stressed 'may' and an unstressed 'zɪŋ' requires controlled tempo to avoid blending into a single long syllable.
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-ə: mid-central, lax; relaxed mouth; keep jaw minimal. -ˈmeɪ: long A, open-mid; tongue high-front; lips unrounded then spread. zɪŋ: alveolar fricative /z/, then /ɪ/ as a near-close-front; final /ŋ/ velar nasal; keep tip of tongue near alveolar ridge; avoid nasality creep. -li: light /l/ with forward tongue; soft /iː/ or /i/; ensure the tongue tip isn’t blocked; final is a light, clean syllable. Common substitutions: /ə/ as [ɪ] in rapid speech, /ˈmeɪ/ shortened to [ˈme], final /li/ becomes [lɪ] in fast speech.
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