phonetically
UK/fəˈnɛtɪkli//fəˈnɛtɪkli/
phonetically adverb: in the way it sounds, particularly: written to describe the sound rather than the dictionary spelling.
Adverb
phonetically (comparative more phonetically, superlative most phonetically)
- In the way it sounds, particularly: written to describe the sound rather than the dictionary spelling.
- The hard words in the passage have been spelled phonetically.
- Equipment on a warship set to be upgraded or disposed of was given the code AT-6, or phonetically “eighty-six”.2025 May 16, Edward Helmore, “What does ‘8647’ really mean? Not what Trump’s supporters are saying”, in The Guardian
Examples of phonetically in a sentence
- In the sentence "What did Bill say he wants to buy?", "what" is an operator, binding a phonetically empty variable.
- He would tell me what to say, and I would write it phonetically.
- Shopkeeper: You see, everything that I am saying to you I have learned to speak phonetically.
Forms of phonetically
| comparative | more phonetically |
|---|---|
| superlative | most phonetically |
Origin of phonetically
From phonetic + -ally.
Words formed from phonetically
Questions about phonetically
- What does phonetically mean?
- Phonetically means in the way it sounds, particularly: written to describe the sound rather than the dictionary spelling.
- What part of speech is phonetically?
- Phonetically is an adverb.
- How do you pronounce phonetically?
- Phonetically is pronounced /fəˈnɛtɪkli/ (UK).
Words near phonetically in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: phonetically (page history and authors). 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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Neøn-phonetically.wav.
Cite this entry: “phonetically.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/phonetically. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.