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

• admittedly
• forsooth
• frankly
• honestly
• indeed
• really
• truly
• truthfully
• verily

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

Kylie Jenner was there, too, and was actually filmed practicing the dance beforehand. —Jennifer Zhan, Vulture, 3 May 2025

The gold sky is actually leaves of gold integrated into the hand-painting work. —Paige Reddinger, Robb Report, 3 May 2025

Stephanie realizes that Charity — who was believed to have been dead — was actually alive at birth, and Aunt Linda stole her to raise her as her own. —Caroline Blair, People.com, 3 May 2025

But none of the images showed what the satellites actually looked like. —Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 3 May 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