Meanings
comparative more openly · superlative most openly
- In an open manner; visibly.
Nevertheless, without openly admitting it, he was devoted to Boxer;
1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC4 more examples
The openly ridiculous plot has The Pirate Captain (Hugh Grant) scheming to win the Pirate Of The Year competition, even though he’s a terrible pirate, far outclassed by rivals voiced by Jeremy Piven and Salma Hayek.
2012 April 26, Tasha Robinson, “Film: Reviews: The Pirates! Band Of Misfits :”, in The Onion AV Club, archived from the original on 28 May 2013We must speak our minds openly, debate our disagreements honestly, but always pursue solidarity.
2017 January 20, Donald Trump, “The Inaugural Address”, in The White House, archived from the original on 28 Mar 2020Particular note, in this period, should be made of the actions of Joseph Denman, commander of the Northern Division of the Squadron, who went on an absolutely ruthless and systematic campaign along the African coast, burning so-called "slaving factories" to the ground and openly daring anyone who objected to try and stop him.
2018 December 1, Drachinifel, 9:26 from the start, in Anti-Slavery Patrols - The West Africa Squadron, archived from the original on 29 Nov 2024When a column of smoke appeared on Thursday over the Sitong Bridge overpass in the Haidian district of Beijing, it drew attention to a protester who had hung banners openly bashing China’s top leader by name and criticizing the country’s “zero Covid” policy, including one calling for “freedom and not lockdowns.”
2022 October 14, Daisuke Wakabayashi, Claire Fu, “China’s Internet Censors Race to Quell Beijing Protest Chatter”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 Oct 2022, Asia PacificSynonyms: apparently, blatantly, baitly, clearly, evidently, eyely, glaringly, manifestly · Antonyms: apparently, blatantly, baitly, clearly, evidently, eyely, glaringly, manifestly
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbIn an open manner; visibly.
Origin
- Old Englishopenlīċe
- Middle Englishopenli
- Englishopenly
From Middle English openli, from Old English openlīċe. By surface analysis, open + -ly.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek φανερῶς
- φανερῶς (phanerôs)in an open manner, visibly, not covertly
Bulgarian откровено
- откровено (otkroveno)in an open manner, visibly, not covertly
Catalan obertament
- obertamentin an open manner, visibly, not covertly
Esperanto malkaŝe
- malkaŝein an open manner, visibly, not covertly
Estonian otse
- otsein an open manner, visibly, not covertly
Finnish avoimesti, julkisesti
- avoimestiin an open manner, visibly, not covertly
- julkisestiin an open manner, visibly, not covertly
French ouvertement
- ouvertementin an open manner, visibly, not covertly
German offen, öffentlich
- offenin an open manner, visibly, not covertly
- öffentlichin an open manner, visibly, not covertly
Hindi खुलकर, दिनदहाड़े
- खुलकर (khulkar)in an open manner, visibly, not covertly
- दिनदहाड़े (dinadhāṛe)in an open manner, visibly, not covertly
Hungarian nyíltan
- nyíltanin an open manner, visibly, not covertly
Irish os ard
- os ardin an open manner, visibly, not covertly
Italian apertamente, in modo aperto
- apertamentein an open manner, visibly, not covertly
- in modo apertoin an open manner, visibly, not covertly
Latin cōram, apertē
- cōramin an open manner, visibly, not covertly
- apertēin an open manner, visibly, not covertly
Māori tamitami
- tamitamiin an open manner, visibly, not covertly
Polish otwarcie, jawnie
- otwarciein an open manner, visibly, not covertly
- jawniein an open manner, visibly, not covertly
Portuguese abertamente
- abertamentein an open manner, visibly, not covertly
Romanian deschis
- deschisin an open manner, visibly, not covertly
Russian откры́то, я́вно
- откры́то (otkrýto)in an open manner, visibly, not covertly
- я́вно (jávno)in an open manner, visibly, not covertly
- открове́нно (otkrovénno)in an open manner, visibly, not covertly
- с открытым забралом (s otkrytym zabralom)in an open manner, visibly, not covertly
- с поднятым забралом (s podnjatym zabralom)in an open manner, visibly, not covertly
Spanish abiertamente, sin tapujos
- abiertamentein an open manner, visibly, not covertly
- sin tapujosin an open manner, visibly, not covertly
- con luz y taquígrafosin an open manner, visibly, not covertly
Swedish öppet
- öppetin an open manner, visibly, not covertly
Turkish açıkça
- açıkçain an open manner, visibly, not covertly
Ukrainian відкри́то, відве́рто
- відкри́то (vidkrýto)in an open manner, visibly, not covertly
- відве́рто (vidvérto)in an open manner, visibly, not covertly
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
openly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/openly
“openly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/openly. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “openly,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/openly.
Source: openly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.