wholly

adverb

whol·​ly ˈhō(l)-lē 

1

: to the full or entire extent : completely

a wholly owned subsidiary

2

: to the exclusion of other things : solely

a book dealing wholly with herbs

Synonyms of wholly

• completely
• fully
• totally
• utterly
• quite
• perfectly
• entirely
• all
• thoroughly
• even
• fast

Examples of wholly in a Sentence

She is wholly devoted to her children.

An infant is wholly dependent on its mother.

The claim is wholly without merit.

Recent Examples on the Web

Chula Vista, which has wholly embraced such technologies, also utilizes AI to write police reports. — Jakob McWhinney, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026

Since God is eternal Spirit, God’s image must be wholly and eternally spiritual. — The Christian Science Monitor, Christian Science Monitor, 9 Oct. 2026

There’s no winking at the audience, no sense of camp or parody, just a lot of appealing interactions, plus some wholly superfluous tertiary plots added to expand the story to series length. — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 8 Oct. 2026

Buck and Aikman made the leap from Fox in 2022, and while Bristol was nimble in hashing out a new deal with the lead mic, the color analyst’s contract is (obviously) a wholly separate issue. — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 2 Oct. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English hoolly, from hool whole

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for wholly

• coaly
• coli
• foley
• folie
• goalie
• holy
• lowly
• moly
• slowly
• tolly
• acholi
• emboli

Kids Definition

wholly

adverb

whol·​ly ˈhōl-(l)ē 

1

: to the full or entire extent : completely

a wholly different view

2

: to the exclusion of other things : solely

a book devoted wholly to sports cars