blindly

From Middle English blindly, blyndly, from Old English blindlīċe (“in a blind manner; blindly; rashly”), equivalent to blind +‎ -ly. Cognate with Swedish blindligt (“blindly”), Icelandic blindlega (“blindly”). Compare also West Frisian blindich (“blindly”), Dutch blindelings (“blindly”), German blindlings (“blindly”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈblaɪndli/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪndli

blindly (comparative more blindly, superlative most blindly)

1. In a blind manner; without sight.

   Synonyms: eyelessly, sightlessly

   I stumbled blindly through the forest, branches whipping at my face.

2. Without consideration or question.

   Synonym: unthinkingly

   Coordinate terms: carelessly, rotely

   • 1940 March 19, Albert Einstein, letter to Morris Raphael Cohen

     The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly.

   • 2017, BioWare, quoting Akksul, Mass Effect: Andromeda (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: No Subject:

     Human,
     "To hate blindly is as dangerous as to trust blindly." An old angaran proverb, one of many I have forgotten somewhere along the way.