FAMOUSLY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does famously mean? 

• FAMOUSLY (adverb)
  The adverb FAMOUSLY has 2 senses:

1. in a manner or to an extent that is well known

2. extremely well

  Familiarity information: FAMOUSLY used as an adverb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FAMOUSLY (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

In a manner or to an extent that is well known

Context example:

in his famously anecdotal style

Pertainym:

famous (widely known and esteemed)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Extremely well

Synonyms:

excellently; famously; magnificently; splendidly

Context example:

we got along famously

 Context examples 

Famously, species of tit learned how to pierce milk bottle lids and siphon the cream during the middle of last century – a phenomenon that spread rapidly through flocks across the UK.

(Birds learn from each other’s ‘disgust’, enabling insects to evolve bright colours, University of Cambridge)

Because WASP-39b has so much more water than our famously ringed neighbor, it must have formed differently.

(NASA Finds a Large Amount of Water in an Exoplanet's Atmosphere, NASA)

But to do their work, the detergents (also known as surfactants) first need to mix with both the oil and water — and oil and water, famously, don't mix.

(Sunlight reduces effectiveness of dispersants used to clean up oil spills, National Science Foundation)

When Charles Darwin visited the Galapagos Islands during his Voyage of the Beagle in 1835, he could famously get close enough to throw his hat over the birds.

(A decade after the predators have gone, Galapagos Island finches are still being spooked, University of Cambridge)

The correspondence flourished famously, and letters flew to and fro with unfailing regularity all through the early spring.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

“For a pair of critics we agree famously,” I laughed.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The British astronomer Stephen Hawking has famously compared crossing this boundary to going over Niagra Falls in a canoe: if you are above the falls, it is still possible to escape if you paddle hard enough.

(Astronomers Piece Together First Image of Black Hole, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

And here have I been telling all my acquaintance that I was going to dance with the prettiest girl in the room; and when they see you standing up with somebody else, they will quiz me famously.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Senior author Dr Despoina Mavridou, from the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial, said: This behavior is strongly reminiscent of the human 'divide and conquer' strategy, famously delineated by Niccolò Machiavelli in his book The Art of War and shows that bacteria are capable of very elaborate warfare tactics.

(Bacteria Can 'Divide and Conquer' to Vanquish Their Enemies, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)