Certainly

//ˈsɜː.tn̩.li// adv

adv ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Adverb
  1. 1
    In a way which is certain; with certainty.

    "he verily thought he had young live frogs in his belly, qui vivebant ex alimento suo, that lived by his nourishment, and was so certainly persuaded of it, that for many years following he could not be rectified in his conceit."

  2. 2
    Without doubt, surely.

    "The accident was certainly caused by human error."

  3. 3
    An emphatic affirmative answer; of course.

    "Would you like it with ice?  Certainly, and with lemon please."

Adverb
  1. 1
    definitely or positively (‘sure’ is sometimes used informally for ‘surely’) wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
absolutelyfor certainindubitablyundoubtedlywiswithout a doubt

Example

More examples

"You've worked hard for months and have certainly earned a holiday."

Etymology

From Middle English certeynly; equivalent to certain + -ly.

Related phrases

of course

More for "certainly"

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.