actually

adverb

ac·tu·al·ly | \ˈak-ch(ə-w)ə-lē,

-sh(ə-w)ə-lē;ˈaksh-lē, ˈaks-\

Definition of actually

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

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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

The Boston cream pie is actually cloaked in mystery as well as chocolate frosting. — Gabriella Gershenson, WSJ, "Is Boston Cream Pie the World’s Most Delicious...Cake?," 9 Nov. 2018 Microsoft Sticky Notes are no longer just separate entities, but can actually live together in a sheaf of virtual notes that are both searchable and live in the cloud. — Mark Hachman, PCWorld, "Hints of Windows 10's 2019 future show up in early '19H1' builds," 6 Nov. 2018 But her favorite singer to coach is actually her son, David Daniel Otunga Jr. (born 2009). — Marie Milano, Country Living, "Everything You Need to Know About Jennifer Hudson's Son, David Daniel Otunga Jr.," 30 Oct. 2018 Normally a winter jacket that will actually keep you warm throughout the season is well over $200. — Lindsey Murray, Good Housekeeping, "Everlane's ReNew Puffer With a 38,000 Person Waitlist Is Back in Stock," 29 Oct. 2018 But while the topic of guns can be polarizing, there's actually a great deal U.S. citizens agree on. — Kaitlin Menza, Redbook, "Everything You Need to Know Before Voting in the Midterm Elections," 10 Oct. 2018 For years, The Americans was hailed as the best show on TV that nobody actually watched, snubbed for awards and healthy audience numbers. — refinery29.com, "This Is Keri Russell's Time To Shine — Welcome To The Russell-ution, Comrades," 13 July 2018 More context: most of what people enjoy about the NBA happens on the internet and is only loosely tethered to actually watching basketball. — Andrew Sharp, SI.com, "The NBA is Broken, But Not Because of DeMarcus Cousins," 5 July 2018 Flynn has described her book as something of a bait and switch – a juicy crime drama that is actually an exploration of one woman’s pain and the relationships between three generations of women. — Anna Silman, The Cut, "Sharp Objects," 11 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'actually.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.