technically

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/ˈtɛk.nɪˌkəl.i//ˈtɛk.nɪˌkli//ˈtɛk.nəˌkli/

adverb

Based on precise facts, which, however, may be contrary to common belief or casual terminology.

“technically correct”

Similar
stricto sensutechniquewisetechnologically
OriginProto-Germanic *līką ← Proto-Indo-European *leyg- ← English technical →
CommonScrabble 21
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

adverbtechnically (comparative more technically, superlative most technically)

comparative more technically · superlative most technically

  1. Based on precise facts, which, however, may be contrary to common belief or casual terminology.

    Near-synonym: stricto sensu

    3 more examples

    Technically, he was Canadian, but everyone assumed he was American.

    Technically, a guinea pig is not a pig, nor is it from Guinea.

    Mary Slessor wasn’t technically the first missionary to oppose twin killing in Calabar, but she was unquestionably the most effective and relentless.

    2025 November 25, Segun Dukeh, “Who Stopped the Killing of Twins in Nigeria?”, in The Guardian

    Synonyms: stricto sensu

  2. Based on formal (de jure) arguments, which, however, may be misleading.

    technically correct

    5 more examples

    Due to an omission in the peace treaty of the Russo-Japanese War, Montenegro was technically at war with Japan for 102 years.

    Stalin was not technically the Head of State.

    Number 1.0 [the head bureaucrat of a legion of bureaucrats]: Bureaucrat Conrad, you are technically correct — the best kind of correct. I hereby promote you to grade 37.

    2000, Bill Odenkirk, How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back (Futurama), season 2, episode 11, spoken by Number 1.0, 20th Century Fox

    "I warned you not to gaze upon my grand godson with that spell. I warned you it would not work properly. Granted, you couldn't hear me then any more than you can now, and you'd never met Tedd, but I diiiid technically say it!"

    2014 July 14, Dan Shive, El Goonish Shive (webcomic), Comic for Monday, Jul 14, 2014

    For the Japanese, however, it's easier to summarize what is still afloat. Nagato, Kongō, and Haruna are technically still afloat, but all three are quite clearly on their way to the bottom.

    2021 May 5, Drachinifel, 45:02 from the start, in Battle of Samar - What if TF34 was there?, archived from the original on 19 Aug 2022
  3. In terms of technique.

    Although she is technically gifted, her piano playing lacks passion.

    1 more example

    In Choosing Children one literally feels as if one were entering the lives of these parents and feels welcomed as they share their experiences with us openly and generously. Technically, this effect is enhanced by the straightforward camera work.

    1984 December 8, Ellen Grabiner, “A Candid Portrait of Choosing Children”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 21, page 10

    Synonyms: techniquewise

  4. In a technical (involving specialized knowledge) way.

    The ladies were not much the wiser, though, I confess, they were not far removed from the door. The great men inside talked indistinctly and technically, and once Doctor Dillon was so unfeeling as to crack a joke […]

    1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard
  5. According to the current state of technology.

    For now, it is technically impossible to have a manned flight to Mercury.

    Synonyms: technologically

Synonyms & antonyms

adverbBased on precise facts, which, however, may be contrary to common belief or casual terminology.

Similar
stricto sensu

adverbIn terms of technique.

Similar
techniquewise

adverbAccording to the current state of technology.

Similar
technologically
Also see
de jureprocedurallystrictly speakingstricto sensutechniquewisetechnologically

Origin

  1. Englishtechnical
  2. Proto-Indo-European*leyg-
  3. Proto-Germanic*līką
  4. Englishtechnically

From technical + -ly.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans tegnies
  • tegniesbased on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
Arabic أَصْلًا
  • أَصْلًا (ʔaṣlan)based on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
Bulgarian техни́чески, техни́чески
  • техни́чески (tehníčeski)having or using the skills or talent required for a certain job or profession
  • техни́чески (tehníčeski)according to the current state of technology
Catalan tècnicament, de iure
  • tècnicamentbased on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
  • de iurebased on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
  • tècnicamenthaving or using the skills or talent required for a certain job or profession
  • tècnicamentaccording to the current state of technology
Chinese Mandarin 嚴格來說 /严格来说, 法律意义上的
  • 嚴格來說 /严格来说 (yángé láishuō)based on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
  • 法律意义上的based on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
  • 在專業上 /在专业上 (zài zhuànyè shàng)having or using the skills or talent required for a certain job or profession
  • 在技術上 /在技术上 (zài jìshù shàng)having or using the skills or talent required for a certain job or profession
Dutch technisch gesproken, strikt genomen
  • technisch gesprokenbased on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
  • strikt genomenbased on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
  • technischhaving or using the skills or talent required for a certain job or profession
  • technischaccording to the current state of technology
Esperanto vere, teĥnike
  • verebased on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
  • teĥnikehaving or using the skills or talent required for a certain job or profession
  • teknikehaving or using the skills or talent required for a certain job or profession
Finnish oikeasti, tosiasiallisesti
  • oikeastibased on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
  • tosiasiallisestibased on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
  • de jurebased on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
  • lain mukaanbased on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
  • laillisestibased on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
  • teknisestihaving or using the skills or talent required for a certain job or profession
  • teknisestiaccording to the current state of technology
French techniquement, de jure
  • techniquementbased on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
  • de jurebased on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
  • de droitbased on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
  • techniquementhaving or using the skills or talent required for a certain job or profession
  • techniquementaccording to the current state of technology
German eigentlich, genau genommen
  • eigentlichbased on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
  • genau genommenbased on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
  • de jurebased on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
  • technischhaving or using the skills or talent required for a certain job or profession
  • fachlichhaving or using the skills or talent required for a certain job or profession
  • technischaccording to the current state of technology
  • nach dem Stand der Technikaccording to the current state of technology
Greek εκ του νόμου, ντε γιούρε
  • εκ του νόμου (ek tou nómou)based on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
  • ντε γιούρε (nte gioúre)based on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
  • αυτοδικαίως (aftodikaíos)based on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
Hebrew טכנית, טכנית
  • טכנית (tékhnit)based on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
  • טכנית (tékhnit)having or using the skills or talent required for a certain job or profession
Hungarian szigorúan véve, elvileg
  • szigorúan vévebased on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
  • elvilegbased on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
  • elvbenbased on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
  • névlegbased on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
  • névlegesenbased on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
  • formailagbased on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
  • hivatalosanbased on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
  • elméletilegbased on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
  • jogilagbased on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
  • szakmailaghaving or using the skills or talent required for a certain job or profession
  • technikailagaccording to the current state of technology
  • műszakilagaccording to the current state of technology
Italian veramente, tecnicamente
  • veramentebased on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
  • tecnicamentebased on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
  • tecnicamentehaving or using the skills or talent required for a certain job or profession
  • tecnicamenteaccording to the current state of technology
Japanese 厳密に, デ・ジュリ
  • 厳密に (genmitsu ni)based on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
  • デ・ジュリ (de-juri)based on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
  • 法律上の (hōritsujō no)based on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
Korean 이론상, 이론적(理論的)으로
  • 이론상 (ironsang)based on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
  • 이론적(理論的)으로 (ironjeog-euro)based on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
Malay sebenarnya
  • sebenarnyabased on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
Norwegian teknisk sett, teknisk
  • teknisk settbased on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
  • tekniskhaving or using the skills or talent required for a certain job or profession
  • tekniskaccording to the current state of technology
Polish właściwie, wedle prawa
  • właściwiebased on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
  • wedle prawabased on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
  • de iurebased on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
  • techniczniehaving or using the skills or talent required for a certain job or profession
Portuguese na realidade, tecnicamente
  • na realidadebased on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
  • tecnicamentebased on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
  • de jurebased on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
  • tecnicamentehaving or using the skills or talent required for a certain job or profession
Russian что́бы быть то́чным, со́бственно
  • что́бы быть то́чным (štóby bytʹ tóčnym)based on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
  • со́бственно (sóbstvenno)based on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
  • стро́го говоря́ (strógo govorjá)based on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
  • Russian: формально (formalʹno)based on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
  • номинально (nominalʹno)based on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
  • техни́чески (texníčeski)having or using the skills or talent required for a certain job or profession
  • техни́чески (texníčeski)according to the current state of technology
Spanish en realidad, de hecho
  • en realidadbased on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
  • de hechobased on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
  • técnicamentebased on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
  • técnicamentehaving or using the skills or talent required for a certain job or profession
Swedish egentligen, de jure
  • egentligenbased on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
  • de jurebased on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
  • tekniskthaving or using the skills or talent required for a certain job or profession
  • teknisktaccording to the current state of technology
Thai วิชาการ, ทั้ง
  • วิชาการ (wíchaa gaan)based on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
  • ทั้ง (táng)having or using the skills or talent required for a certain job or profession
Turkish teknik yönden
  • teknik yöndenbased on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
Welsh yn dechnegol, yn ffurfiol
  • yn dechnegolbased on precise facts, which however may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name
  • yn ffurfiolbased on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
  • yn benodolbased on formal (de jure) arguments, which however may be misleading
  • yn dechnegolhaving or using the skills or talent required for a certain job or profession
  • yn ffurfiolhaving or using the skills or talent required for a certain job or profession
  • yn dechnolegolaccording to the current state of technology
Cite this entry
APA

technically. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/technically

MLA

“technically.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/technically. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “technically,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/technically.

Source: technically on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.