actually

adverb

ac·​tu·​al·​ly ˈak-ch(ə-w)ə-lē 

-sh(ə-w)ə-lē;

ˈaksh-lē,

ˈaks-

1

: in act or in fact : really

trying to find out what actually happened

won't actually arrive for an hour

2

: in point of fact

—used to suggest something unexpected

was surprised to learn that she could actually speak German

Synonyms

• honestly
• frankly
• really
• indeed

Examples of actually in a Sentence

actually, I'd rather spend the evening at home

I call her Aunt Emily, but she is actually my cousin, not my aunt.

Recent Examples on the Web

But few of these cases have actually gone to trial, with Tesla often settling claims outside the courtroom. —Joel Rose, NPR, 14 July 2025

Despite breakthrough innovation over the last several years, buildings still can’t actually speak to us. —Riaz Raihan, Forbes.com, 14 July 2025

In their interviews with town businessmen, the Sodality women try to convince the men that more hygienic practices will actually improve their bottom line, but the men are skeptical: why do anything new? —Deborah Williams july 14, Literary Hub, 14 July 2025

As an overall rule, faculty members in the humanities and the interpretive social sciences — people who don’t need labs or major datasets or large-scale computing power — are the only ones whose costs are actually covered by tuition and endowment payout. —Clifford Ando, Chicago Tribune, 14 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English actuelly, from actuel, actual actual + -ly -ly entry 2

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for actually

• contextually
• unusually
• dually

Kids Definition

actually

adverb

ac·​tu·​al·​ly ˈak-ch(ə-w)ə-lē 

ˈak-sh(ə-w)ə-lē

: in fact or in truth : really

she actually spoke Spanish

actually, I didn't want to go