Wikimore

English

(modal) In act or in fact; really; in truth; positively.
His promises did not correspond with what he actually did.Category:English terms with usage examples#ACTUALLY
(obsolete Category:English terms with obsolete senses#ACTUALLY) Actively.
- 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI):
  Neither actually […] nor passively.
  Category:English terms with quotations#ACTUALLY
(obsolete Category:English terms with obsolete senses#ACTUALLY or non-native speakers' EnglishCategory:Non-native speakers' English#ACTUALLY) Currently; at the time.
- 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:
  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, essentially different from those of the present day: and their amusements pretty similar.
  Category:English terms with quotations#ACTUALLY

Usage notes

In other European languages, cognates of actually mean "now" or "currently"; (e.g., Portuguese "atualmente", Spanish "actualmente", French "actuellement", German "aktuell", Italian "attualmente", Czech "aktuálně"), making it a false friend. This leads many non-native speakers of English to use "actually" when they mean "now" or "currently".
Some commentators have:
1. remarked upon the irony that this qualifier of veracity often introduces an utter lie;^[1] and,
2. noted that in many cases, actually functions as little more than a vacuous emphatic utterance.^[2]
In practice, actually and its synonyms are often used to insinuate that the following is either unusual or contrary to a norm or preceding assumption, or to merely preface an overconfident opinion contrasting a previous statement or norm (as per 'vacuous emphasis' note above).

This is actually a really beautiful song. (contrasting opinion)

Actually, I'm not from France – I'm from Switzerland. (contrary from assumption)

At the check-out, the cashier actually greeted me for once. (contrary from norm)

Alternative forms

actially (nonstandard)
ackshually, ackshully, akshually, akshully, ackshly, akshly (eye dialect)

Synonyms

(in act or in fact): See Thesaurus:actually

Derived terms

Translations

In act or in fact; really; in truth; positively — see also even,‎ indeed

Category:Entries with translation boxes#ACTUALLY

Afrikaans: eintlikCategory:Terms with Afrikaans translations#ACTUALLY
Albanian: please add this translation if you canCategory:Requests for translations into Albanian#ACTUALLY
Arabic: فِعْلًا (fiʕlan)Category:Terms with Arabic translations#ACTUALLY
Armenian: իրականում (hy) (irakanum)Category:Terms with Armenian translations#ACTUALLY
Azerbaijani: əslindəCategory:Terms with Azerbaijani translations#ACTUALLY, əslinə qalandaCategory:Terms with Azerbaijani translations#ACTUALLY
Basque: benetanCategory:Terms with Basque translations#ACTUALLY
Belarusian: факты́чна (faktýčna)Category:Terms with Belarusian translations#ACTUALLY, сапра́ўды (sapráwdy)Category:Terms with Belarusian translations#ACTUALLY, дапра́ўды (dapráwdy)Category:Terms with Belarusian translations#ACTUALLY
Bulgarian: всъщност (bg) (vsǎštnost)Category:Terms with Bulgarian translations#ACTUALLY, в действителност (v dejstvitelnost)Category:Terms with Bulgarian translations#ACTUALLY
Catalan: de fetCategory:Terms with Catalan translations#ACTUALLY, en realitatCategory:Terms with Catalan translations#ACTUALLY
Chinese:
Mandarin: 究竟 (zh) (jiūjìng)Category:Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations#ACTUALLY Category:Terms with Mandarin translations#ACTUALLY, 其實 / 其实 (zh) (qíshí)Category:Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations#ACTUALLY Category:Terms with Mandarin translations#ACTUALLY
Czech: skutečně (cs)Category:Terms with Czech translations#ACTUALLY, opravdu (cs)Category:Terms with Czech translations#ACTUALLY
Danish: egentligCategory:Terms with Danish translations#ACTUALLY
Dutch: eigenlijk (nl)Category:Terms with Dutch translations#ACTUALLY, in werkelijkheid (nl)Category:Terms with Dutch translations#ACTUALLY, feitelijk (nl)Category:Terms with Dutch translations#ACTUALLY
Esperanto: efektiveCategory:Terms with Esperanto translations#ACTUALLY, fakteCategory:Terms with Esperanto translations#ACTUALLY
Estonian: tegelikult (et)Category:Terms with Estonian translations#ACTUALLY
Finnish: itse asiassa (fi)Category:Terms with Finnish translations#ACTUALLY, oikeastaan (fi)Category:Terms with Finnish translations#ACTUALLY, varsinaisestiCategory:Terms with Finnish translations#ACTUALLY
French: en fait (fr)Category:Terms with French translations#ACTUALLY, effectivement (fr)Category:Terms with French translations#ACTUALLY
Frisian:
West Frisian: eigentlikCategory:Terms with West Frisian translations#ACTUALLY
Georgian: სინამდვილეში (sinamdvileši)Category:Terms with Georgian translations#ACTUALLY, ნამდვილად (namdvilad)Category:Terms with Georgian translations#ACTUALLY, ფაქტობრივად (pakṭobrivad)Category:Terms with Georgian translations#ACTUALLY, რეალურად (realurad)Category:Terms with Georgian translations#ACTUALLY
German: eigentlich (de)Category:Terms with German translations#ACTUALLY, tatsächlich (de)Category:Terms with German translations#ACTUALLY, in WirklichkeitCategory:Terms with German translations#ACTUALLY, in WahrheitCategory:Terms with German translations#ACTUALLY, wirklich (de)Category:Terms with German translations#ACTUALLY
Alemannic German: aigetliCategory:Terms with Alemannic German translations#ACTUALLY

East Central German: aangtlichCategory:Terms with East Central German translations#ACTUALLY
Greek: βασικά (el) (vasiká)Category:Terms with Greek translations#ACTUALLY
Ancient Greek: ἀληθῶς (alēthôs)Category:Terms with Ancient Greek translations#ACTUALLY, ἐτήτυμον (etḗtumon)Category:Terms with Ancient Greek translations#ACTUALLY, τῷ ὄντι (tōî ónti)Category:Terms with Ancient Greek translations#ACTUALLY
Hebrew: למעשה (le-ma'ase)Category:Terms with Hebrew translations#ACTUALLY
Hindi: यों (yõ)Category:Terms with Hindi translations#ACTUALLY, वास्तव में (vāstav mẽ)Category:Terms with Hindi translations#ACTUALLY, असल में (asal mẽ)Category:Terms with Hindi translations#ACTUALLY, वाकई (hi) (vākaī)Category:Terms with Hindi translations#ACTUALLY, वाक़ई (vāqaī)Category:Terms with Hindi translations#ACTUALLY
Hungarian: tulajdonképpen (hu)Category:Terms with Hungarian translations#ACTUALLY, voltaképpen (hu)Category:Terms with Hungarian translations#ACTUALLY, igazából (hu)Category:Terms with Hungarian translations#ACTUALLY, igazság szerintCategory:Terms with Hungarian translations#ACTUALLY, ami azt illeti (hu)Category:Terms with Hungarian translations#ACTUALLY, valójában (hu)Category:Terms with Hungarian translations#ACTUALLY
Icelandic: reyndarCategory:Terms with Icelandic translations#ACTUALLY, raunarCategory:Terms with Icelandic translations#ACTUALLY
Ingrian: itse assiaasCategory:Terms with Ingrian translations#ACTUALLY
Interlingua: effectivementeCategory:Terms with Interlingua translations#ACTUALLY
Italian: realmente (it)Category:Terms with Italian translations#ACTUALLY, davvero (it)Category:Terms with Italian translations#ACTUALLY, in veritàCategory:Terms with Italian translations#ACTUALLY, concretamente (it)Category:Terms with Italian translations#ACTUALLY, effettivamente (it)Category:Terms with Italian translations#ACTUALLY
Japanese: 本当に (ja) (ほんとうに, hontō ni)Category:Terms with Japanese translations#ACTUALLY; 実際に (jissai ni)Category:Terms with Japanese translations#ACTUALLY, 実は (ja) (jitsu wa)Category:Terms with Japanese translations#ACTUALLY
Khmer: តាមពិត (taam pɨt)Category:Terms with Khmer translations#ACTUALLY, តាមពិតទៅ (taam pɨt tɨv)Category:Terms with Khmer translations#ACTUALLY
Korean: 사실 (ko) (sasil)Category:Terms with Korean translations#ACTUALLY
Lao: please add this translation if you canCategory:Requests for translations into Lao#ACTUALLY
Latin: rēvērāCategory:Terms with Latin translations#ACTUALLY
Latvian: please add this translation if you canCategory:Requests for translations into Latvian#ACTUALLY
Ligurian: defætiCategory:Terms with Ligurian translations#ACTUALLY, infætiCategory:Terms with Ligurian translations#ACTUALLY
Lithuanian: please add this translation if you canCategory:Requests for translations into Lithuanian#ACTUALLY
Malay: sebenarnyaCategory:Terms with Malay translations#ACTUALLY, sebetulnyaCategory:Terms with Malay translations#ACTUALLY, sesungguhnyaCategory:Terms with Malay translations#ACTUALLY, sebetulnyaCategory:Terms with Malay translations#ACTUALLY, sesungguhnyaCategory:Terms with Malay translations#ACTUALLY
Malay: sebenarnyaCategory:Terms with Malay translations#ACTUALLY
Māori: iaraCategory:Terms with Māori translations#ACTUALLY
Middle English: trewelyCategory:Terms with Middle English translations#ACTUALLY
Mirandese: please add this translation if you canCategory:Requests for translations into Mirandese#ACTUALLY
Mongolian: please add this translation if you canCategory:Requests for translations into Mongolian#ACTUALLY
Nepali: वास्तव मा (vāstav mā)Category:Terms with Nepali translations#ACTUALLY, खास मा (khās mā)Category:Terms with Nepali translations#ACTUALLY
Norwegian: for øyeblikketCategory:Terms with Norwegian translations#ACTUALLY, reelt settCategory:Terms with Norwegian translations#ACTUALLY
Bokmål: faktisk (no)Category:Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations#ACTUALLY, egentlig (no)Category:Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations#ACTUALLY, i virkelighetenCategory:Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations#ACTUALLY

Nynorsk: faktiskCategory:Terms with Norwegian Nynorsk translations#ACTUALLY
Old English: sōþlīċeCategory:Terms with Old English translations#ACTUALLY
Persian: در واقع (dar vâqe')Category:Terms with Persian translations#ACTUALLY, در حقیقت (dar haqiqat)Category:Terms with Persian translations#ACTUALLY, راستش (râst-eš)Category:Terms with Persian translations#ACTUALLY (colloquial)
Polish: właściwie (pl)Category:Terms with Polish translations#ACTUALLY, naprawdę (pl)Category:Terms with Polish translations#ACTUALLY, faktycznie (pl)Category:Terms with Polish translations#ACTUALLY, autentycznie (pl)Category:Terms with Polish translations#ACTUALLY
Portuguese: na verdadeCategory:Terms with Portuguese translations#ACTUALLY, na realidadeCategory:Terms with Portuguese translations#ACTUALLY
Punjabi: ਵਾਕਿਆ (vākiā)Category:Terms with Punjabi translations#ACTUALLY
Romanian: de faptCategory:Terms with Romanian translations#ACTUALLY
Russian: действи́тельно (ru) (dejstvítelʹno)Category:Terms with Russian translations#ACTUALLY, вообще́-то (ru) (voobščé-to)Category:Terms with Russian translations#ACTUALLY, на са́мом де́ле (ru) (na sámom déle)Category:Terms with Russian translations#ACTUALLY, факти́чески (ru) (faktíčeski)Category:Terms with Russian translations#ACTUALLY
Slovene: v bistvuCategory:Terms with Slovene translations#ACTUALLY, dejanskoCategory:Terms with Slovene translations#ACTUALLY
Spanish: en realidadCategory:Terms with Spanish translations#ACTUALLY, de hecho (es)Category:Terms with Spanish translations#ACTUALLY, realmente (es)Category:Terms with Spanish translations#ACTUALLY, de veras (es)Category:Terms with Spanish translations#ACTUALLY, de vero (es)Category:Terms with Spanish translations#ACTUALLY (desus.), de verdadCategory:Terms with Spanish translations#ACTUALLY, exactamente (es)Category:Terms with Spanish translations#ACTUALLY, en verdadCategory:Terms with Spanish translations#ACTUALLY, más concretamenteCategory:Terms with Spanish translations#ACTUALLY
Swedish: verkligen (sv)Category:Terms with Swedish translations#ACTUALLY, egentligen (sv)Category:Terms with Swedish translations#ACTUALLY, faktiskt (sv)Category:Terms with Swedish translations#ACTUALLY, i själva verket (sv)Category:Terms with Swedish translations#ACTUALLY
Tajik: дарвоқеъ (darvoqe')Category:Terms with Tajik translations#ACTUALLY
Thai: จริงจริงแล้ว (jing jing lɛ́ɛo)Category:Terms with Thai translations#ACTUALLY
Turkish: aslında (tr)Category:Terms with Turkish translations#ACTUALLY
Ukrainian: наспра́вді (nasprávdi)Category:Terms with Ukrainian translations#ACTUALLY, ді́йсно (díjsno)Category:Terms with Ukrainian translations#ACTUALLY
Urdu: در حقیقت (dar-haqīqat)Category:Terms with Urdu translations#ACTUALLY, واقعی (wāqaī)Category:Terms with Urdu translations#ACTUALLY, دراصل (dar-asl)Category:Terms with Urdu translations#ACTUALLY
Vietnamese: thực ra (vi)Category:Terms with Vietnamese translations#ACTUALLY, thật ra (vi)Category:Terms with Vietnamese translations#ACTUALLY, thực sự làCategory:Terms with Vietnamese translations#ACTUALLY
Volapük: jenöfo (vo)Category:Terms with Volapük translations#ACTUALLY
Welsh: mewn gwirioneddCategory:Terms with Welsh translations#ACTUALLY
Yiddish: פֿאַקטיש (faktish)Category:Terms with Yiddish translations#ACTUALLY, בפּועל (bepoyel)Category:Yiddish terms with non-redundant manual transliterations#ACTUALLY Category:Terms with Yiddish translations#ACTUALLY, בפּועל־ממש (bepoyel-mamesh)Category:Yiddish terms with non-redundant manual transliterations#ACTUALLY Category:Terms with Yiddish translations#ACTUALLY, ממש (mamesh)Category:Yiddish terms with non-redundant manual transliterations#ACTUALLY Category:Terms with Yiddish translations#ACTUALLY, אייגנטלעך (eygntlekh)Category:Terms with Yiddish translations#ACTUALLY

Etymology 2

A calque of Tagalog Category:English terms calqued from Tagalog#ACTUALLY Category:English terms derived from Tagalog#ACTUALLY talaga.

Interjection

actuallyCategory:English lemmas#ACTUALLY Category:English interjections#ACTUALLY Category:English entries with incorrect language header#ACTUALLY Category:Pages with entries#ACTUALLY Category:Pages with 3 entries#ACTUALLY

(Philippines Category:Philippine English#ACTUALLY, informal Category:English informal terms#ACTUALLY) Indicating affirmation, agreement.^[3]
A: That was a pretty good movie.

B: Actually!

Synonym: really (US)

References

↑ Christopher Howse; Richard Preston (2007), She Literally Exploded: The Daily Telegraph Infuriating Phrasebook, London: Constable and Robinson, →ISBN, page 3.
↑ ibidem, page 4
↑ Pau Miranda (17 July 2023), “English words that only make sense in Filipino”, in Inquirer.net‎

Category:English modal adverbs#ACTUALLY

Middle English

Alternative forms

actuali, actualy, actuelly

Etymology

From actual +‎ -ly (adverbial)Category:Middle English terms suffixed with -ly (adverbial)#ACTUALLY.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˌaktiu̯ˈa(l)liː/, /ˈaktiu̯aliː/, /ˌaktiu̯ˈɛːliː/, /ˈaktiu̯ɛliː/Category:Middle English terms with IPA pronunciation#ACTUALLY

Adverb

actuallyCategory:Middle English lemmas#ACTUALLY Category:Middle English adverbs#ACTUALLY Category:Middle English entries with incorrect language header#ACTUALLY Category:Pages with entries#ACTUALLY Category:Pages with 3 entries#ACTUALLY (Late Middle English Category:Late Middle English#ACTUALLY)

Descendants

English: actually
Scots: ackwally, akwelly, ac'ually, actwally, actiwally

References

“actūā̆l(l)ī, -ē̆l(l)ī, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Scots

Adverb

actuallyCategory:Scots lemmas#ACTUALLY Category:Scots adverbs#ACTUALLY Category:Scots entries with incorrect language header#ACTUALLY Category:Pages with entries#ACTUALLY Category:Pages with 3 entries#ACTUALLY

actually

References

Eagle, Andy, ed. (2016) The Online Scots Dictionary, Scots Online.

[SLE-usage1-1] Christopher Howse; Richard Preston (2007), She Literally Exploded: The Daily Telegraph Infuriating Phrasebook, London: Constable and Robinson, →ISBN, page 3.

[SLE-usage2-2] ibidem, page 4

[3] Pau Miranda (17 July 2023), “English words that only make sense in Filipino”, in Inquirer.net‎

[1]

[2]

[3]

Wikimore

actually

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Adverb

Usage notes

Alternative forms

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

Interjection

References

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adverb

Descendants

References

Scots

Adverb

References