intimately

[ in-tuh-mit-lee ]

adverb

1. in a way that entails, assumes, or suggests a close, warm, trusting personal relationship:

   He was quick to rebuke others, but only those he knew intimately and loved dearly.

   Churchill spoke intimately and easily over the wireless to his own people during the war.

2. in a way that arises from long or frequent direct personal experience:

   Cycling acquaints you intimately with every bump, slice, crease, divot, ledge, ripple, and pothole in a street.

3. in a way that affords or encourages privacy, coziness, closeness of interaction, etc.:

   The small tables are so that people can converse more intimately, even among a larger group.

   The beautifully renovated 150-seat theater offers an intimately scaled setting with state-of-the-art acoustics.

4. in a way that involves a close union or connection:

   Many of the ailments seen in the inpatient service are intimately linked to the malnutrition plaguing the region.

5. in a way that involves or suggests sex:

   Posts must not contain name-calling, profanity, or intimately explicit material.

   Chlamydia is an intimately transmitted infection.

6. in a deep and detailed way:

   Her letters and journals reveal a woman intimately involved in the day-to-day happenings of the school.

7. in the innermost depths of one’s mind or heart:

   It has given me an opportunity to share ideas, thoughts, and intimately held beliefs with others equally interested in deeper questions.

8. next to the skin, as underclothing, wigs, etc.:

   Please read our exchange policy carefully; these are quality garments that are worn intimately and hence cannot be exchanged or returned.

Word History and Origins

Origin of intimately¹

intimate ¹( def ) + -ly

Example Sentences

Under Trump, the surveillance state will get into the act even more intimately than it is now.

From Salon

Despite their ostensibly liberal political beliefs, Silicon Valley’s leaders know intimately that Donald Trump is a vindictive leader who can ruin their lives and businesses at a moment’s notice.

From Slate

But the magic of my walk — stretches of different trails, patchworked together, leading from Cadman Drive to Coolidge Trail to Hogback Trail to Dante’s View to Mount Hollywood — comes from my knowing it so intimately.

From Los Angeles Times

“I believe,” Noymer said, “that the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus are that it’s ... an experimental virus that escaped from a lab and Tony Fauci is intimately linked to the funding for experiments that created this virus.”

From Los Angeles Times

“Those of us who grew up near the border and who are intimately familiar with the cross-cultural exchange that is so inherent of living on the border are like, ’Hey, that’s not the only story, that’s not the only side to this,” said Vasquez, adding that she and co-director Sam Osborn deliberately wanted to make an underdog sports movie where the balls and jerseys were swapped out for music and sombreros.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• informally
• personally