What does intensely mean?
Intensely means with great strength, concentration, degree, or emotional force. It is commonly used to describe careful and sustained attention, as in “she listened intensely,” and to indicate a powerful feeling or response, as in “he intensely disliked the idea.” It can also describe competitive activity or a highly focused quality, such as an “intensely competitive match.” The adverb is closely related to the adjective intense and the noun intensity, but it focuses on how strongly or deeply something is experienced rather than on the quality of a person, place, or thing. Intensely can suggest both concentration and emotional force, so its exact effect depends on context. In informal speech it may be replaced by “very” or “really,” but the standard adverb is preferable in precise or formal writing because it conveys a more concentrated or emphatic degree.
adverbWith great strength, concentration, or degree. It can indicate a powerful emotional response, sustained attention, or a high level of intensity.
- With great strength, concentration, or degree.
- With a sharp or acute degree of feeling, sensation, or attention.
"She became intensely focused as the deadline approached."
"The two teams competed intensely throughout the final."
"He intensely disliked being kept in the dark about the changes."
Its Latin ancestor, intensus, meant “stretched,” linking the modern sense of heightened force to the idea of tension.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does intensely come from?
Intensely is an adverb formed from intense, which comes through French from Latin intensus, a participle of intendere, meaning “to stretch.” Latin intensus originally conveyed being stretched or heightened in tension, a sense reflected in modern words such as intensity and intensive. In English, intense developed toward meanings involving concentrated feeling, severe sensation, or great effort before the adverb form became established.
Related word forms
How intensely is actually used
Intensely is common in formal and informal contexts. It is especially natural with emotions, attention, competition, and sensory experience; it can sometimes sound more emphatic than “very” without adding literal meaning.
Easily confused with intensely
Intense is an adjective that characterizes something as strong or concentrated, whereas intensely is an adverb describing the degree or manner of an action or feeling.