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 of actually

• 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 Hall and Woodford, in separate contributions, set about improving the Keynesian model to take into account how consumers and businesses actually make decisions about whether to invest and spend. — Arkansas Online, 13 Oct. 2026

And the way that [Christie] wrote those characters was quite modern actually, for the time. — Ellise Shafer, Variety, 13 Oct. 2026

There’s very few cases where a fan actually gets to stand beside the man and add onto the man’s legacy. — Christine Imarenezor, VIBE.com, 13 Oct. 2026

What to read next After nearly 30 years, NASA realized this near-Earth asteroid is actually a comet. — Joe Rao, Space.com, 13 Oct. 2026

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

• dually
• contextually
• unusually

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