Meanings
comparative more compactly · superlative most compactly
- In a compact manner.
Old Kipps glanced at her over his spectacles. "You ain't comfortable, my gal, in this world, not if you don't live up to your position," so putting compactly into contemporary English that fine old phrase, noblesse oblige.
1905, H. G. Wells, Kipps1 more example
she is of middle size, stiffly made, body long, legs short, bust much developed but not compactly moulded, waist disproportionately compressed by an inhumanly braced corset, dress carefully arranged, large feet tortured into small bottines, head small, hair smoothed, braided, oiled, and gummed to perfection
a. 1856 (date written), Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], edited by A[rthur] B[ell] Nicholls, The Professor, a Tale. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], published 1857, →OCLC
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbwith concise and precise brevity; to the point
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Cite this entry
compactly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/compactly
“compactly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/compactly. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “compactly,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/compactly.
Source: compactly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.