actually
UK/ˈæk(t)ʃᵿli//ˈæk.t͡ʃ(u.)(ə.)li/
actually adverb: in act or in fact; really; in truth; positively.
Adverb
actually (not comparable)
- In act or in fact; really; in truth; positively.
- His promises did not correspond with what he actually did.
- Actively.
- Neither actually […] nor passively.1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI)
- Currently; at the time.
- At the time whereof we are writing, though the Great George was on the throne and ladies wore gigots and large combs like tortoise-shell shovels in their hair, instead of the simple sleeves and lovely wreaths which are actually in fashion, the manners of the very polite world were not, I take it...1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC
Interjection
- Indicating affirmation, agreement.
- A: That was a pretty good movie.
- B: Actually!
- Synonyms:
- really
actually meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
actually in Hindi
- In act or in fact; really; in truth; positively
- यों yõ, वास्तव में vāstav mẽ, असल में asal mẽ, वाकई vākaī, वाक़ई vāqaī
actually in Tamil
- உண்மையில்
actually in Urdu
- In act or in fact; really; in truth; positively
- در حقیقت dar-haqīqat, واقعی wāqaī, دراصل dar-asl
actually in Bengali
- প্রকৃতপক্ষে, বস্তুত, কার্যত, যথার্থই, প্রকৃতপ্রস্তাবে
More languagesFewer languages
- actually in Malayalam
- യഥാർത്ഥ്യത്തിൽ, നേരുപറഞ്ഞാൽ, സത്യം പറഞ്ഞാൽ, സത്യമായി
- actually in Punjabi
- ਵਾਕਿਆ vākiā
- actually in Nepali
- वास्तव मा vāstav mā, खास मा khās mā
- actually in Arabic
- فِعْلًا fiʕlan
- actually in Malay
- sebenarnya, sebetulnya, sesungguhnya
- actually in Persian
- در واقع dar vâqe', در حقیقت dar haqiqat, راستش râst-eš
- actually in Thai
- จริงจริงแล้ว jing jing lɛ́ɛo
- actually in Vietnamese
- thực ra, thật ra, thực sự là
Examples of actually in a sentence
- Many Irish are actually dark-haired as a result of the many invaders and migrants over the centuries.
- Borja, do you know Pilar? - Sure, we've actually met before.
- It didn't seem like ten miles, but actually it was that far.
Synonyms of actually
- really
- above a bit
- all things considered
- as a matter of fact
- certainly
- come to think of it
- de facto
- definitely
- de jure
- fact is
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- frankly
- honestly
- in actuality
- in all honesty
- indubitably
- in fact
- in point of fact
- in reality
- in truth
- indeed
- legitimately
- literally
- not gonna lie
- properly
- right
- simply
- surely
- to be frank
- to be honest
- TBH
- to tell the truth
- truly
- truthfully
- undoubtedly
- very much
- wis
- by right
- forsooth
- in faith
- soothfast
Antonyms
Forms of actually
| alternative form | actially |
|---|---|
| alternative form | ackshually |
| alternative form | ackshully |
| alternative form | akshually |
| alternative form | akshully |
| alternative form | ackshly |
| alternative form | akshly |
Origin of actually
From Middle English actually, actuelly, equivalent to actual + -ly.
A calque of Tagalog talaga.
Words formed from actually
Phrases with actually
Questions about actually
- What does actually mean?
- Actually means in act or in fact; really; in truth; positively.
- What is actually in Hindi?
- Actually in Hindi is यों (yõ), वास्तव में (vāstav mẽ), असल में (asal mẽ). See Actually meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is actually?
- Actually can be an adverb or an interjection.
- How do you pronounce actually?
- Actually is pronounced /ˈæk(t)ʃᵿli/ (UK).
Words near actually in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: actually (page history and authors); actually (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); actually (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); actually (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-actually.ogg.
Cite this entry: “actually.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/actually. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.