kissed soundly

[Tan Elaine]

I read the following sentence in an English book and wonder whether 'soundly' is correctly used in the sentence.

He kissed him soundly on his cheek.

I've referred to dictionaries,but its meanings don't seem to fit in.

Thanks in advance.

[kfredson]

I read the following sentence in an English book and wonder whether 'soundly' is correctly used in the sentence.

He kissed him soundly on his cheek.

I've referred to dictionaries,but its meanings don't seem to fit in.

Thanks in advance.

Soundly in this context means "decisively" or "squarely."

[indonesia]

Manchester United were soundly beaten by Norwich last time they played!

[2006]

I read the following sentence in an English book and wonder whether 'soundly' is correctly used in the sentence.

He kissed him soundly on his cheek.

I've referred to dictionaries,but its meanings don't seem to fit in.

Thanks in advance.

I don't remember hearing or seeing "sound(ly)" modify 'kiss', and I wonder if other people have.
Adverbs like 'firmly' and 'heartily' come to mind.

[Tan Elaine]

2006 wrote: "I don't remember hearing or seeing "sound(ly)" modify 'kiss', and I wonder if other people have."

Adverbs like 'firmly' and 'heartily' come to mind.

I agree with 2006 that 'soundly' doesn't modify 'kiss'. The dictionaries make no reference to 'soundly' being used with or related to 'kiss'. The meanings of 'soundly', as I said in my first post on this topic, don't have any reference to 'kiss'.

[bhaisahab]

2006 wrote: "I don't remember hearing or seeing "sound(ly)" modify 'kiss', and I wonder if other people have."

Adverbs like 'firmly' and 'heartily' come to mind.

I agree with 2006 that 'soundly' doesn't modify 'kiss'. The dictionaries make no reference to 'soundly' being used with or related to 'kiss'. The meanings of 'soundly', as I said in my first post on this topic, don't have any reference to 'kiss'.

What is "soundly" about?

[2006]

What is "soundly" about?

"soundly" means 'convincingly', 'decisively', 'thoroughly' and is commonly used in sports, as in indonesia's example, and in other types of competition when one party decisively defeats its opponents.

The second common use of "soundly" is to describe sleep, where it means 'deeply'.

[bhaisahab]

"soundly" means 'convincingly', 'decisively', 'thoroughly' and is commonly used in sports, as in indonesia's example, and in other types of competition when one party decisively defeats its opponents.

The second common use of "soundly" is to describe sleep, where it means 'deeply'.

Yes, I know what "soundly" means, I was asking what the OP was taking it to mean. I don't see any reason why "He kissed him soundly..." cannot be used.

[mxreader]

I don't remember hearing or seeing "sound(ly)" modify 'kiss', and I wonder if other people have.
Adverbs like 'firmly' and 'heartily' come to mind.

I haven't either. (not "neither"!)

[BobK]

2006 wrote: "I don't remember hearing or seeing "sound(ly)" modify 'kiss', and I wonder if other people have."

Adverbs like 'firmly' and 'heartily' come to mind.

I agree with 2006 that 'soundly' doesn't modify 'kiss'. The dictionaries make no reference to 'soundly' being used with or related to 'kiss'. The meanings of 'soundly', as I said in my first post on this topic, don't have any reference to 'kiss'.

I think your answer might come from a consideration of the fuller context. How old were the men involved? Were they in a homosexual relationship? What was their culture's attitude to men kissing? Had their relationship until that point been distant? I think the author's choice of 'soundly' conveyed something about the characters' attitude to all these questions. The kiss was done in a decisive (and indeed flamboyant) way: 'I know you don't think I should, but I'm going to anyway.'

I don't think it was a mistake. But, depending on the writer's grasp of English, 'soundly' might have been used (wrongly) to mean 'in a way that made a sound'. One way to say this would be 'He gave him a smacker, right on the cheek'. (A 'smacker', in Br English, means a loud kiss.)

b