Wackily

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. In an unconventional manner that brings about humor or eccentricity
2. Done in a whimsical way that departs from the norm and evokes amusement
3. In a manner that is odd and amusingly unconventional

Etymology: "Wackily" is simply the adverb of "wacky," formed by attaching the English suffix "-ly" to that adjective. The adjective itself has a long line of ancestry: the "-y" ending traces back through Middle English and Old English to Proto-Germanic "-gaz," while the "-ly" of the adverb descends from a Proto-Germanic "-līkaz," meaning "having the body or form of," which was also the source of the English word "like." So the adverb carries an old idea of resemblance inside it: to act "wackily" was, in effect, to act in a manner resembling the wacky thing. The base word "wacky" grew out of "whack," a term with a much earlier, more forceful sense of striking a blow. Its precise path from that sense to "silly" is one the source leaves unrecorded, so the connection is best seen as a family resemblance rather than a documented step-by-step change.

Synonyms: quirkily, eccentrically, absurdly, funnily, oddly

Antonyms: seriously, sensibly, logically, rationally, normally