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"hesitantly" is also used as a crossword clue. If that's what you saw, the answer is often tentatively (11 letters).
Definitions
with hesitation; in a hesitant manner
Word origin
From hesitant + -ly.
Used in a sentence
“The sounds from Barb's clarinet began to take the shape of a melody, played quietly at first, hesitantly, with a misblown note here and there.”
“It approaches irrefusably, hesitantly, terrible as fate, the great task and question: how shall the earth as a whole be managed? (Friedrich Nietzsche, 1885)”
“Grigory hesitantly took her in his arms to kiss her, but she held him off, bent supply backwards and shot a frightened glance at the windows. 'They'll see!' 'Let them!' 'I'd be ashamed—'”
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0
Used as a crossword answer1 curated clues
01“With pauses”10 letters
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