technically

tech·ni·cal·ly | \ ˈtek-ni-k(ə-)lē

Definition of technically

1 : with regard to or in accordance with a strict or literal interpretation of something (such as a rule, a term, or an official description or designation) What they're doing is technically illegal. Technically, a tomato is a fruit. Terry-Thomas's character gives a splendid display of gamesmanship in a tennis match that he wins unfairly without technically cheating.— Tim Stanley The business happens to be in Woodside, N.Y., in the borough of Queens, which technically isn't part of Long Island …— Paul R. Martin While she wasn't technically beautiful, she was striking.— Sue Grafton

2 : with regard to technology a more technically advanced vehicle a technically feasible solution Looking through the telescope via computer from, say, your office is now technically possible …— Aubrey Wallace

3 : with regard to technique (as in a performance or movement) a technically flawless gymnastic routine musicians learning to play a technically difficult passage … he is a resourceful, technically polished actor …— Michael Goodwin Hagen's awareness that his own method of hitting the ball could be improved had earlier helped him make his swing more technically sound …— Herbert Warren Wind

Examples of technically in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web With German’s Federal Statistics Office also revising Q4 2019 down to a mild drop, that means the country is now technically in a recession. — David Meyer, Fortune, "The most admired Fortune 500 CEO is…," 15 May 2020 Lebanon and Israel are technically in a state of war. — Isabel Reynolds, Bloomberg.com, "Japan Fires Back at Ghosn, Stoking War of Words Over Trial," 15 May 2020 Once any laptop might have a webcam built in, once any mobile phone did, too, technically, anyone could be a camgirl. — Melissa Gira Grant, The New Republic, "Coronavirus Is Making Us All Camgirls," 13 May 2020 Ford technically has quadriceps tendintis, a form of knee tendinitis that affects the quadriceps tendon at the top of the kneecap. — Eric Branch, SFChronicle.com, "Is knee tendinitis a big deal? NFL doctor discusses 49ers’ Ford, Kinlaw," 2 May 2020 There are only two people in the federal government who technically have the authority to fire Dr. Fauci as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. — Lev Facher, STAT, "NIH Director Francis Collins on Tony Fauci, the WHO, and running a $39 billion research agency from home," 21 Apr. 2020 The cancellation has left the island in a constitutional predicament -- parliament had already been dissolved ahead of the election date, so technically the country has no parliament. — Julia Hollingsworth And Yoonjung Seo, CNN, "South Korea is holding an election during the coronavirus crisis. Other countries are postponing theirs. Either way, democracy may suffer," 13 Apr. 2020 Like Vivian and Kit, that’s a luxury that Candy enjoys as a white woman who technically has other options to fall back on. — Anne Cohen, refinery29.com, "30 Years Later, Pretty Woman Is So Much More Than A Guilty Pleasure," 24 Mar. 2020 Under the city’s Jim Crow-era segregation laws, black passengers didn’t technically have to get up for white passengers if there were no other free seats, though many did so to avoid the potentially dangerous consequences. — Olivia B. Waxman, Time, "'I Was Not Going to Stand.' Rosa Parks Predecessors Recall Their History-Making Acts of Resistance," 2 Mar. 2020

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