Meanings
adverbreal-ly (comparative more real-ly, superlative most real-ly)
comparative more real-ly · superlative most real-ly
- alternativenonstandardAlternative form of really (“in a way or manner that is real, not unreal”).
If it did, there would be no distinction between real and unreal, between what is 'real-ly' presented and 'merely imagined,' between the self and the world, and there would be no such thing as thought.
1892, The Philosophical Review, volume I, number 5, page 541
Origin
The suffix is hyphenated to better distinguish the literal-meaning adverb from the intensifier really.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
real-ly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/real-ly
MLA
“real-ly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/real-ly. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “real-ly,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/real-ly.
Source: real-ly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.