Readily means easily and without hesitation or delay. When you can readily answer a question, the answer comes to your mind quickly and naturally. When supplies are readily available, you can get them whenever you need them without difficulty.

The word suggests both quickness and willingness. A firefighter readily rushes into a burning building because they're trained, equipped, and committed to helping others. Information that's readily accessible sits right where you can find it, like a dictionary on your desk instead of buried in a box in your attic.

You'll often see readily describe how smoothly things work or how willingly people act. A substance that dissolves readily in water breaks apart quickly without much stirring. Someone who readily admits their mistake does so without making excuses or trying to hide it. When flour mixes readily into cake batter, it blends in smoothly.

The opposite of readily would be reluctantly, slowly, or with difficulty. If you finish your homework readily, you get through it with ease and focus. If you struggle through it, taking hours and needing constant help, that's definitely not doing it readily.