ACTUALLY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does actually mean? 

• ACTUALLY (adverb)
  The adverb ACTUALLY has 4 senses:

1. in actual fact

2. used to imply that one would expect the fact to be the opposite of that stated; surprisingly

3. at the present moment

4. as a sentence modifier to add slight emphasis

  Familiarity information: ACTUALLY used as an adverb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ACTUALLY (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

In actual fact

Synonyms:

actually; really

Context example:

large meteorites actually come from the asteroid belt

Pertainym:

actual (existing in act or fact)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Used to imply that one would expect the fact to be the opposite of that stated; surprisingly

Synonyms:

actually; in reality

Context example:

people who seem stand-offish are in reality often simply nervous

Sense 3

Meaning:

At the present moment

Context example:

the transmission screen shows the picture that is actually on the air

Sense 4

Meaning:

As a sentence modifier to add slight emphasis

Context example:

she hasn't proved to be too satisfactory, actually

 Context examples 

I felt delicate about taking any, as I couldn't return them, and I'm actually suffering for one.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

"People think they're seed predators, but it turns out they actually do disperse a lot of seeds."

(Thai Elephants Help Spread Jungle Fruit's Seeds, Sadie Witkowski/VOA)

Purportedly extinct creatures were actually roaming around the Karoo hundreds of thousands of years later than the time scientists had written them off.

(Mass extinction of land and sea biodiversity 250 million years ago not simultaneous, National Science Foundation)

But it's actually the nickname for a unique and rare class of young exoplanets that have the density of cotton candy.

('Cotton Candy' Planet Mysteries Unravel in New Hubble Observations, NASA)

It may safely be prophesied, however, that no one could have foreseen the extraordinary turn which they were actually to take.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

‘We are now,’ said he, ‘actually within the hydraulic press, and it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were to turn it on.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This colourful stripe of stars, gas, and dust is actually a spiral galaxy named NGC 1055.

(A Galaxy on the Edge, ESO)

Your enormous focus on finding, investing and saving money, and paying debt (taxes, loans, and other obligations) actually started last month on the December 25 new moon solar eclipse.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

This news actually took my breath for a moment: Mr. St. John, whom I had never heard laugh before, laughed now.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Researchers said it is not clear whether the large amount of cerebrospinal fluid actually causes autism or not.

(Scientists say excess cerebrospinal fluid may serve as early sign of autism, Wikinews)