as in carefully
without any relaxation of standards or precision
strictly speaking, Columbus did not discover America—the people living there had long known about it the rules must be strictly obeyed
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Recent Examples of strictly
Bode’s comment was strictly in reference to the character of the Wizard of Oz, who uses propaganda to manipulate and deceive his subjects in Wicked.
—
Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 7 Nov. 2025
The glittering gastro gem shines brightly with resourceful chefs embracing a diverse array of culinary traditions, often eschewing allegiance to strictly Southern cooking.
—Nevin Martell, USA Today, 7 Nov. 2025
The men balked at any suggestion that their purchases were illicit and explained their focus on Florida as strictly a business decision.
—Karen Wang, Miami Herald, 7 Nov. 2025
Directed by Tony winner Thomas Kail (Hamilton), the strictly limited 16-week engagement will play the Booth Theatre beginning March 31, 2026, ahead of an official opening night on April 16.
—Dave Quinn, PEOPLE, 6 Nov. 2025
Its resolution will reveal just how strictly the Court requires each branch to perform its job, and not that of other branches—and how Presidential declarations of emergencies and national-security threats alter what the Court deems to be proper separation of powers.
—Jeannie Suk Gersen, New Yorker, 6 Nov. 2025
The ringing of the bell will be the poignant summation of a private memorial service — strictly for family members, but livestreamed for the public — to be held at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at the Whitefish Point Light Station, just north of Paradise, Michigan.
—Caitlin Looby, jsonline.com, 4 Nov. 2025
Aarnav Sathish, a high school senior, said his teachers strictly discourage AI in the classroom.
—Susan Caminiti, CNBC, 4 Nov. 2025
The best offensive showing for the Chiefs in at least three years derived not strictly from the weapons, but the opportunity to throw to them.
—Kansas City Star, 3 Nov. 2025
Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 7 Nov. 2025
The glittering gastro gem shines brightly with resourceful chefs embracing a diverse array of culinary traditions, often eschewing allegiance to strictly Southern cooking.
—Nevin Martell, USA Today, 7 Nov. 2025
The men balked at any suggestion that their purchases were illicit and explained their focus on Florida as strictly a business decision.
—Karen Wang, Miami Herald, 7 Nov. 2025
Directed by Tony winner Thomas Kail (Hamilton), the strictly limited 16-week engagement will play the Booth Theatre beginning March 31, 2026, ahead of an official opening night on April 16.
—Dave Quinn, PEOPLE, 6 Nov. 2025
Its resolution will reveal just how strictly the Court requires each branch to perform its job, and not that of other branches—and how Presidential declarations of emergencies and national-security threats alter what the Court deems to be proper separation of powers.
—Jeannie Suk Gersen, New Yorker, 6 Nov. 2025
The ringing of the bell will be the poignant summation of a private memorial service — strictly for family members, but livestreamed for the public — to be held at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at the Whitefish Point Light Station, just north of Paradise, Michigan.
—Caitlin Looby, jsonline.com, 4 Nov. 2025
Aarnav Sathish, a high school senior, said his teachers strictly discourage AI in the classroom.
—Susan Caminiti, CNBC, 4 Nov. 2025
The best offensive showing for the Chiefs in at least three years derived not strictly from the weapons, but the opportunity to throw to them.
—Kansas City Star, 3 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for strictly
Adverb
-
In part, the McKinley administration standardized various press protocols and routines involved in managing the press corps—holding somewhat regular briefings, for example, and carefully timing White House announcements.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
7 Nov. 2025
-
The handsewn and carefully backstitched quilts feature colorful images of buffalo heads, turtles, eagles, angels and other patterns that come to Water in her dreams.—
Alicia Wallace,
CNN Money,
7 Nov. 2025
Adverb
-
In 2001, then-President Bill Clinton brought China into the World Trade Organization to encourage a liberal turn in Beijing, but instead fast-tracked the rise of a rigidly authoritarian economic rival.—
Andy Browne,
semafor.com,
30 Oct. 2025
-
The setlist for the reunion tour to date has been rigidly predictable, with the group performing the same 23 songs, in the same order, at all the shows to date.—
Gil Kaufman,
Billboard,
9 Oct. 2025
Adverb
-
According to researchers at Penn State’s Materials Research Institute, the characteristics of nanotubes can be precisely tuned by selecting specific atomic compositions.—
Jijo Malayil,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Nov. 2025
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The result is a workforce that is smaller, less dynamic, and aging faster, precisely when adaptation to technological change requires the opposite.—
Jane Sadowsky,
Fortune,
8 Nov. 2025
Adverb
-
This new perspective allowed mathematicians to rigorously explore higher-dimensional spaces — leading to the birth of modern topology, a field dedicated to the study of mathematical spaces like manifolds.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
3 Nov. 2025
-
Flu vaccines are safe Flu vaccines and their ingredients are rigorously tested and found to be very safe.—
Liz Szabo,
NBC news,
25 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Strictly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/strictly. Accessed 21 Nov. 2025.
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