highly
part of speech
adverb (highly)
meaning for a pupil
1) Highly means very or very much: highly dangerous, highly unlikely. tree →
2) Highly means with great respect or praise: «think highly of someone». tree →
3) Highly means at a high level, rank or amount: highly paid, highly skilled. tree →
sense in the lessons
In safety, labels say «highly flammable» or «highly toxic» — keep away. In maths and probability, «highly likely» means very probable, «highly unlikely» means almost impossible. In everyday talk «I highly recommend this book» means you strongly suggest it. Phrases: «highly likely/unlikely», «think highly of», «speak highly of», «highly recommend», «highly skilled».
examples
- That spray is highly flammable — keep it away from fire. tree →
- It is highly unlikely to snow in summer. tree →
- My teacher thinks highly of your work. tree →
- I highly recommend this book. tree →
- Surgeons are highly skilled. tree →
- Some snakes are highly poisonous. tree →
- It is highly likely we will win. tree →
- Everyone speaks highly of the new coach. tree →
note
Trap: «highly» usually means «very», not «at a great height». For height use «high»: «The kite flew high» (not «highly»). «Highly» goes before adjectives: highly dangerous, highly likely.
In the corpora
- In the UK people value queuing highly and get upset about queue-jumping.
- Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised, in the city of our God, His holy mountain,
- For great is the LORD, and highly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods.
- Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable.
- For great is the LORD, and highly to be praised; He also is to be feared above all gods.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «highly» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.