fondly

Etymology

From Middle English fondly, fondely, fonnedli, equivalent to fond + -ly.

adv

  1. In a fond manner; affectionately; tenderly.
    He looked fondly at the pictures of his high-school friends.
  2. (dated) Foolishly.
    "Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?" / I fondly ask... 1673, John Milton, When I Consider How My Light Is Spent ('On His Blindness')
    […] she fondly believes that ten millions of the free people of the Union will allow her and her seceding brethren to open and shut the portals of this mighty region at their pleasure. 1861, The Living Age

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