English Reference
adverb

wisely

adv.
US /ˈwaɪzɫi/ UK /wˈaɪzli/ wise·ly

  1. 01 B1 Intermediate

    in a way that shows you have good judgment and understand what is likely to happen.

    in a manner characterized by wisdom, prudence, or the application of experience to achieve a sensible outcome.

    Simple

    She decided to invest her money wisely instead of spending it all on a new car.

    In context

    The board of directors wisely chose to delay the product launch until the software bugs were fully resolved.

    Usage

    Typically modifies verbs or entire clauses to evaluate the quality of a decision.

    sensiblyshrewdlyprudently

From Middle English wisliche, wislike, from Old English wīslīċe (“wisely”, adverb), equivalent to wise + -ly.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Origin Old English wīslīċe
Level B1 · Intermediate
Frequency Frequent
Updated