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 the proposal would only actually impact a small few — billionaires. —Paris Barraza, USA Today, 21 Feb. 2026

That kind of evolution is what stepping away and coming back with fresh eyes can actually look like. —Hanna Wickes, Miami Herald, 20 Feb. 2026

Put aside that Anthropic is said to actually be a Workday client; this company was wracked by a not-so-hot last quarter, one that prompted the return of Aneel Bhusri and the exit of Carl Eschenbach, who was viewed by Wall Street as a suboptimal CEO. —Jim Cramer, CNBC, 20 Feb. 2026

That's actually a really hard question. —Sean Gregory, Time, 20 Feb. 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

• 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