ordinarily

adverb

or·​di·​nar·​i·​ly ˌȯr-də-ˈner-ə-lē 

: in an ordinary manner or to an ordinary extent: such as

a

: in the ordinary course of events : usually

She was ordinarily very busy in the morning.

the jobs ordinarily handled by junior staff members

… cortisol, a hormone which ordinarily comes into play in situations of bodily stress …

—Maggie Scarf

Ordinarily, the immune system of any mammal will work to fight off a fungal parasite.

—David Quammen

b

: to the usual extent : moderately

It must suffice for him to be ordinarily honest according to the ordinary honesty of the world's ways …

—Anthony Trollope

c

: in a commonplace or inferior way : without distinction

A friend of mine … has two apartments on the 3rd floor, very ordinarily furnished …

—Walt Whitman

Synonyms of ordinarily

• usually
• normally
• typically

Examples of ordinarily in a Sentence

ordinarily, I get off work at five, but this week I'm working late to meet a project deadline

Recent Examples on the Web

The league assigns electronic devices to employees to be used for work purposes, and teams ordinarily do the same with their employees. —Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 4 June 2026

Sure, space travel sounds exciting, but space travelers are still workers – workers who could ordinarily go to restaurants for lunch or go home for dinner. —New Atlas, 3 June 2026

Organizers will be hoping that fans are simply waiting until closer to the event to purchase tickets, with many soccer fans ordinarily accustomed to buying tickets at stations on gameday. —Adam Crafton, New York Times, 2 June 2026

The police department ordinarily aims to defer disciplinary issues at schools to staff for resolution rather than taking punitive action, Pieritz said. —Evy Lewis, Chicago Tribune, 29 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1555, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for ordinarily

• arbitrarily
• customarily
• militarily
• momentarily
• necessarily
• secondarily
• temporarily
• voluntarily
• airily
• caroli
• merrily
• verily