Literary notes about highly (AI summary)
In literature, the adverb "highly" is frequently employed as an intensifier that reinforces qualities, evaluations, or conditions. It enhances adjectives to denote an extreme degree, such as in Darwin's “highly improbable suppositions” [1] or Tacitus’s account of figures so “highly esteemed” that even legal penalties were tripled [2]. Authors use it both to elevate praise—as seen when a gentleman is described as “highly bred” [3] or a critic as “highly gifted” [4]—and to underscore disapproval or exceptional states, like “highly inappropriate” behavior [5] or a “highly satisfactory” condition of health [6]. The versatility of “highly” allows writers across genres and eras—from Coleridge to Dostoyevsky—to subtly color descriptions, mark extreme conditions, or emphasize value judgments, thus serving as an essential tool in literary expression [7][8].