Handily means easily and skillfully, often by a comfortable margin. When a runner wins a race handily, she finishes well ahead of the other runners, making it look effortless. When you complete a difficult puzzle handily, you solve it without much struggle or confusion.

The word suggests both ease and capability. A basketball team that wins handily might beat their opponents 85 to 60, achieving a comfortable victory. A student who passes a challenging test handily breezes through it with a strong score, demonstrating solid understanding of the material.

Notice that handily implies you had the skills or preparation to make something look easy. It's not about luck or accident. When a chess player defeats her opponent handily, it's because she understood the game better and made stronger moves. The word celebrates competence: doing something well enough that it feels straightforward rather than stressful.