legitimately

Adverb

legitimately (comparative more legitimately, superlative most legitimately)

1. In a legitimate manner, properly, fair and square.
   • Later, when we played King's Quest 2, I remember being legitimately terrified while inside Dracula's castle. Like, I had nightmares in 16 color EGA.2004 September 2, Emily Morganti, quoting Matthew Chapman, “Peasant’s Quest”, in adventuregamers.com, archived from the original on 23 Sep 2010
   • I bought the magazines, ran home after work, filmed myself flipping through the pages—half legitimately fangirling over the boys, half making fun of people like myself who fangirl over the boys.2015, Tyler Oakley, Binge, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN

   Synonyms:

   genuinely, legally, validly, above a bit, actually, all things considered, as a matter of fact, by right, certainly, come to think of it