fixedly

English

Etymology

From fixed (“not changing; not able to be changed, staying the same”) +‎ -ly (suffix forming adverbs from adjectives).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfɪksɪdli/, /ˈfɪks(t)li/

• Audio (US)

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• Hyphenation: fix‧ed‧ly, fixed‧ly

Adverb

fixedly (comparative more fixedly, superlative most fixedly)

1. In a fixed manner.

   Synonyms: (obsolete) fixly, (obsolete) statarianly

   1. Firmly, resolutely.
      • 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], “Of the Names of Substances”, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. , London: Eliz Holt, for Thomas Basset, , →OCLC, book III, § 22, page 216:

        And ſhall not the vvant of Reaſon and Speech, be a ſign to us of different real Conſtitutions and Species, betvveen a Changeling, and a reaſonable Man? And ſo of the reſt, if vve pretend, that the diſtinction of Species is fixedly eſtabliſhed by the real Frame, and ſecret Conſtitutions of Things.

      • 1702, Cotton Mather, “).] The Life and Death of Mr. Nathanael Mather.”, in Magnalia Christi Americana: Or, the Ecclesiastical History of New-England, from Its First Planting in the Year 1620. unto the Year of Our Lord, 1698. , London: Thomas Parkhurst, , →OCLC, section II (His Piety), page 217, column 1:

        It vvas his manner in the Morning to meditate very ſeriouſly and fixedly upon ſome Truth, or ſome Text, for a good part of an Hour together.

      • 1865 May 15 – 1866 January 1, Anthony Trollope, “Miss Amedroz is Pursued”, in The Belton Estate. , volume III, London: Chapman and Hall, , published December 1865 (indicated as 1866), →OCLC, page 150:

        But the difficulty of the circumstances in which he was placed was so great, that it was almost impossible for him to make up his mind fixedly to any purpose in reference to Clara.

      • 1913, Theodore Roosevelt, “The Vigor of Life”, in An Autobiography, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC, page 41:

        I am by no means sure that it [the rhinoceros] had fixedly hostile intentions, and indeed with my present experience I think it likely that if I had not fired it would have flinched at the last moment and either retreated or gone by me.

      • 1945 May 30, John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon, Lord Chancellor, “Treason Bill ”, in Parliamentary Debates (Hansard): House of Lords Official Report (House of Lords)‎, volume 136, London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, →ISSN, →OCLC:

        That is my view of the position, but if the Under-Secretary will agree with me we will certainly take the opportunity of discussing this in the course of conferring with the noble Lords who raised the point. I do not suppose anybody has made up his mind fixedly.

   2. Without changing one's expression; unchangingly.
      • 1989, Carol Shields, “Chemistry”, in Various Miracles, London: Fourth Estate, published 1994, →ISBN, page 219:

        A consultation has been held in the corridor or in the washroom. Rhonda is smiling fixedly. Lonnie H. is looking wise and sad.

   3. Without shifting one's gaze; intently, steadily.
      • 1749, [John Cleland], “”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], volume I, London: G. Fenton  , →OCLC, pages 18–19:

        She look'd as if ſhe vvould devour me vvith her eyes, ſtaring at me from head to foot, vvithout the leaſt regard to the confuſion and bluſhes her eyeing me ſo fixedly put me to, and vvhich vvere to her, no doubt, the ſtrongeſt recommendation, and marks of my being fit for her purpoſe.

      • 1830 June, Alfred Tennyson, “Madeline”, in Poems. , volume I, London: Edward Moxon, , published 1842, →OCLC, stanza 3, page 19:

        But when I turn away, / Thou, willing me to stay, / Wooest not, nor vainly wranglest; / But, looking fixedly the while, / All my bounding heart entanglest, / In a golden-netted smile; […]

      • 1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter VII, in The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume II, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 230:

        The old man [William Kiffin] looked fixedly at the king [James II of England], burst into tears, and made answer, "Sir, I am worn out; I am unfit to serve your Majesty or the City. And, sir, the death of my poor boys broke my heart. That wound is as fresh as ever. I shall carry it to my grave."

      • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Quarter-deck”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 177:

        Did you fixedly gaze, too, upon that ribbed and dented brow; there also, you would see still stranger foot-prints—the foot-prints of his one unsleeping, ever-pacing thought.

      • 1897, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “Mr. Teddy Henfrey’s First Impressions”, in The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance, New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC, pages 17–18:

        He felt alone in the room and looked up, and there, grey and dim, was the bandaged head and huge blue lenses staring fixedly, with a mist of green spots drifting in front of them.

      • 1927 May, Virginia Woolf, chapter 7, in To the Lighthouse (Uniform Edition of the Works of Virginia Woolf), new edition, London: Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, , published 1930, →OCLC, part I (The Window), page 61:

        By looking fixedly at the page, he hoped to make him move on; by pointing his finger at a word, he hoped to recall his mother's attention, which, he knew angrily, wavered instantly his father stopped.

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