Pendulously

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. Moving in a manner that swings back and forth like a pendulum
2. In a way that swings freely back and forth resembling a pendulum's motion
3. Describing movement characterized by smooth, regular swinging similar to a bob on a string

Etymology: "Pendulously" is simply "pendulous" with the adverbial ending "-ly" added, so the word's history is that of its base. "Pendulous" comes from the Latin "pendulus," meaning "hanging" or "suspended," built on "pendere," "to hang," the same root that gave English "pendant," "pending," and "append." The original sense was of something hanging down by its own weight, such as fruit on a branch or a heavy lower lip, and the swinging motion we now associate with a pendulum came later, through the same hanging idea applied to a weight suspended from a fixed point. The adverb simply describes doing something in the manner of that hanging, swinging mass, so the word traces back to a single image: things that dangle.

Synonyms: swayingly, swingingly, oscillatingly, dangle-like, floppily

Antonyms: steadily, rigidly, firmly, stably, fixedly