# thickly

**Pronunciation:** /ˈθɪk.li/ · THIK-lee

**CEFR level:** B2

**Part of speech:** adverb

## Meaning 1: Description

In a way that is dense, closely packed, or difficult to penetrate.

## Examples

- The fog rolled in, obscuring the view of the harbor so thickly that ships had to slow down.
- Moss grew thickly on the north side of the old stone walls.
- The trees were planted too thickly, and they didn't have enough room to grow properly.

## Meaning 2: Speech

In a way that is difficult to understand, often due to a strong accent or slurred speech.

## Examples

- He spoke so thickly after drinking that I could barely make out his words.
- The old man's voice was thick with emotion, making his story even more poignant.
- She was so tired that her words came out thickly, almost like she was mumbling.

## Synonyms

- densely — Emphasizes a high concentration of things in a given space.
- closely — Indicates things are near together, often used for planting or spacing.
- heavily — Often used for things like rain, snow, or fog, implying a large amount.

## Antonyms

- thinly — Opposite of dense or closely packed.
- sparsely — Indicates things are spread out with large gaps between them.

## Common patterns

- thickly populated — Describes an area with a very large number of people living in it. — The region is thickly populated, with many towns and villages close together.
- thickly forested — Describes an area with many trees growing very close together. — They got lost in the thickly forested mountains.

## Collocations

- grow thickly — The ivy grew thickly over the garden wall.
- covered thickly — The ground was covered thickly with fallen leaves.
- planted thickly — The young trees were planted too thickly for optimal growth.

Canonical URL: https://anaversity.com/dictionary/english/thickly

[Browse the English learner dictionary](https://anaversity.com/dictionary/english)