Meaning & use

intently

adverb·Academic

With complete concentration and close attention, focusing fully on one person or thing.

See it in a sentence

The students listened intently as the guest speaker described her research in Antarctica.

He stared intently at the chessboard, searching for a way out of the trap.

A note on using this word

Intently describes focused attention, unlike intensely, which describes the strength or force of a feeling or action.

Words with a similar meaning

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

absently

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