easy

The opposite of the word "difficult" is "easy." If something is easy, it’s not hard.

• The test we took yesterday was easy. Everyone did well on it.
• Do you know an easy way to get to the airport?
• There are no easy answers to this problem.
• English isn’t an easy language to learn.
• Some people who immigrate to the United States expect an easy life, but it’s just the opposite. It can be extremely difficult.

The word "easy" shows up in many expressions:

• Take it easy. (Goodbye.)
• After George’s heart attack, his doctor told him to start taking it easy. (take it easy = relax)
• Take it nice and easy. (Go slowly.)
• This car is easy on gas. (It gets good gas mileage.)
• She’s easy on the eyes. (She beautiful.)
• The judge went easy on the man who was found guilty of theft. He only got a few months in prison. (go easy = give a light punishment.)
• Go easy on the salt. (Don’t use too much.)
• They’re living on easy street. (They’re rich.)
• You should get into this. It’s easy money. (It’s easy to make money doing this work.)

John likes to take it easy on summer vacations.

The adverb form of this word is "easily."

• They easily completed their work in two hours.
• Our team easily beat the other team in the soccer match.

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his page was first published on June 6, 2012. It was updated on February 5, 2016.