Truly

//ˈtɹuːli// adv

adv ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Adverb
  1. 1
    In accordance with the facts; truthfully, accurately.

    "He adds, very truly, that what was fatal to such philosophies as his was not Christianity but the Copernican theory."

  2. 2
    Honestly, genuinely, in fact, really. modal

    "That is truly all I know."

  3. 3
    Very.

    "You are truly silly."

Adverb
  1. 1
    in accordance with truth or fact or reality wordnet
  2. 2
    in fact (used as intensifiers or sentence modifiers) wordnet
  3. 3
    by right wordnet
  4. 4
    with sincerity; without pretense wordnet

Example

More examples

"No money, no job, no friends. He was truly at loose ends."

Etymology

From Middle English truely, treuly, treuli, trewely, treoweliche, treowliche, from Old English trēowlīċe (“faithfully; truly”), equivalent to true + -ly. Cognate with Dutch trouwelijk, Middle Low German truwlike, German treulich, Swedish trolig, Icelandic trygglega.

Related phrases

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