What Does Ily Mean? (2024)

• Ily is an abbreviation of the phrase I love you.
• It’s mostly used when texting or instant messaging. For most people, it doesn’t carry the same weight as spelling out the phrase it stands for.

Whenever you think that all the abbreviations in text speak are useless, remember that they’ve given us more ways to tell people that we care about them. Remember ily.

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The meaning of Ily

Ily is an abbreviation friends often text back and forth or post on social media. It’s short for I love you, but it doesn’t pack the same punch as the spelled-out phrase, which is why it’s mostly used to describe admiration or fondness rather than actual love. For people you really love, spelling out the whole phrase is still the best way of saying it.

How to use Ily

Ily is a slang term, occasionally spoken aloud but more commonly used in informal writing. It should be avoided in a formal setting, but that’s probably a non-issue because formal situations are not when most people decide to make declarations of love.

Ily can be written in uppercase or lowercase letters—since there are no guidelines for this, you can choose for yourself how to do it. If you’re planning to write something for an audience and you want to include ily, choose upper or lowercase and stick with it throughout the whole text.

Examples