gently vs gingerly

gently

adv
  • In a gentle manner; to a gentle degree. 

  • Without strong force or quickness: softly, lightly. 

  • From a gentle or high-class family. 

  • Quietly: without much noise or motion. 

gingerly

adv
  • In a cautious and delicate manner; (very) carefully or cautiously. 

adj
  • Often of movements: very careful, cautious, or delicate. 

How often have the words gently and gingerly occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )