as in hard
with great effort or determination
intently studied his notes just before the exam
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of intently
Jack listened intently as doctors laid out the uncertainties of Patrick’s fate.
—
Steven Levingston, Vanity Fair, 23 Feb. 2026
Some people were listening intently to Padilla, who came in from Colfax for the event.
—Graham Womack, Sacbee.com, 23 Feb. 2026
After completing fielding drills with Washington and Jolbert Cabrera, the fundamentals coach for Triple-A Sacramento, Eldridge listened intently to Washington’s defensive guidance for several minutes.
—Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 11 Feb. 2026
The rebuttal, published Tuesday, is a clear sign of how intently China is focusing on the case – and the White House’s broader push to root out its influence in the region.
—Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 5 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for intently
Steven Levingston, Vanity Fair, 23 Feb. 2026
Some people were listening intently to Padilla, who came in from Colfax for the event.
—Graham Womack, Sacbee.com, 23 Feb. 2026
After completing fielding drills with Washington and Jolbert Cabrera, the fundamentals coach for Triple-A Sacramento, Eldridge listened intently to Washington’s defensive guidance for several minutes.
—Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 11 Feb. 2026
The rebuttal, published Tuesday, is a clear sign of how intently China is focusing on the case – and the White House’s broader push to root out its influence in the region.
—Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 5 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for intently
Recent Examples of Synonyms for intently
Adverb
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Wahlin said that there’s a difference between making a mistake and making a hard-working mistake.—
Dean Spiros,
Twin Cities,
15 Mar. 2026
-
England came into the game under fire for its kick-heavy approach, but ran hard at France and was constantly rewarded.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
14 Mar. 2026
Adverb
-
Young people feel this most intensively.—
Stuart A. Spencer,
Fortune,
15 Feb. 2026
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In Danbury, as in many cities across the state, our planning and legal staff are working intensively to interpret the new requirements in order to implement them by the July 1 deadline.—
Waleed Albakry,
Hartford Courant,
11 Feb. 2026
Adverb
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Here, books that can seem overwhelming—books of dreams, infinity, mysteries—turn out to be intensely accessible, offering so many different ways to read them and think with them.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 Mar. 2026
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The weather service warns, however, that a late spring frost may only provide temporary pollen relief, as levels can return intensely later in the season.—
Tom Gavin,
EverydayHealth.com,
11 Mar. 2026
Adverb
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Hanson continued to cause problems for Christensen — now at Barcelona — by sticking diligently to his left flank duties, and Filipe Morais levelled the score 15 minutes from time.—
Richard Sutcliffe,
New York Times,
8 Mar. 2026
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Each ingredient is diligently vetted and each product is exhaustively tested (including a microbial analysis) for heavy metals, pesticides, solvent residues, environmental contaminants, and common allergens including gluten.—
Brianna Peters,
Vogue,
6 Mar. 2026
Adverb
-
Although most of the towns and villages around them are under de-facto Hezbollah control, Qlayaa — like other Christian, Sunni Muslim and Druze communities dotting the bucolic hills of Lebanon’s south — had taken a resolutely neutral position.—
Nabih Bulos,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Mar. 2026
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China's President Xi Jinping on Saturday said political loyalty in the military must be ensured and called for resolutely pushing forward the fight against corruption as a military purge widened.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
7 Mar. 2026
Adverb
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Though his injuries were severe, the sailors watched in wonder as the cat determinedly licked his wounds, then got back to work destroying the rats threatening the ship’s food stores.—
Anne Ewbank,
Popular Science,
18 Feb. 2026
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Carreras scored the crucial opening goal, determinedly driving into the box and finishing in an individual flourish that unlocked the match in the 65th minute.—
Mario Cortegana,
New York Times,
9 Feb. 2026
Adverb
-
This article is being continuously updated.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
18 Mar. 2026
-
Roll-to-roll coating methods are preferred in industry because the coatings are applied continuously to large rolls of a substrate material, such as paper or other biodegradable plastics.—
J. Carson Meredith,
The Conversation,
17 Mar. 2026
Adverb
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Mistakes stuck doggedly in his memory.—
Julia Poe,
Chicago Tribune,
24 Feb. 2026
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This would not be possible in two or three dimensions, but the words are arranged in tens of thousands of them, a geometry that doggedly resists visualization.—
Gideon Lewis-Kraus,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Intently.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/intently. Accessed 18 Mar. 2026.
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