totally

T1O1T1A1L1L1Y4
UK/ˈtəʊ.tə.li/Canada, US/ˈtoʊ.tə.li/Canada, US[ˈtoʊ.ɾə.li]

adverb

To the fullest extent or degree.

“That was totally wicked!”

CommonScrabble 10

Meanings

adverbtotally (not comparable)
  1. not comparableTo the fullest extent or degree.

    They've totally demolished the bank on Main Street.

    5 more examples

    Antonio. He misses not much. Sebastian. No; he doth but mistake the truth totally.

    1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]

    The languages of different nations did not totally differ […] They were therefore easily learned;

    1789, Olaudah Equiano, chapter 2, in The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, volume 1, London: for the author, page 59

    Your conjecture is totally wrong, I assure you.

    1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], Pride and Prejudice: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 57

    I trust him totally and without reservation.

    1969, Chaim Potok, chapter 12, in The Promise, New York: Knopf, page 226

    The project poses exceptional challenges, given that Antarctica is the coldest, windiest and driest continent on Earth, as well as the most remote and inaccessible, being almost totally covered by a vast ice sheet.

    2019 September 26, Gianluca Mezzofiore, “Wanted: A design team for a building project at Earth’s most remote location – Antarctica”, in CNN

    Synonyms: completely, entirely, fully, wholly

  2. colloquialnot comparabledegreeVery; extremely.

    That was totally wicked!

  3. colloquialmodalnot comparableDefinitely; for sure.

    That was totally not what happened.

    1 more example

    Well, we’ve spoken to a lawyer, and the answer, it turns out, is, ‘Yes. That would totally be assault.’ So we’ll say that I didn’t do it.

    2017, Adam Kay, This Is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor

Synonyms & antonyms

adverbTo the fullest extent or degree.

More synonyms by meaning

adverbto a complete degree or to the full or entire extent; Completely or entirely

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Englishtotal
  2. Proto-Indo-European*leyg-
  3. Proto-Germanic*līką
  4. Englishtotally

From total + -ly.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian изцяло, напълно
  • изцяло (izcjalo)In a total manner; completely
  • напълно (napălno)In a total manner; completely
  • съвсем (săvsem)very
Catalan totalment
  • totalmentIn a total manner; completely
Chinese Cantonese 完全
  • 完全 (jyun⁴ cyun⁴)In a total manner; completely
Dutch volledig, helemaal
  • volledigIn a total manner; completely
  • helemaalIn a total manner; completely
  • totaalIn a total manner; completely
Finnish kokonaan, täysin
  • kokonaanIn a total manner; completely
  • täysinIn a total manner; completely
French totalement
  • totalementIn a total manner; completely
German vollständig, komplett
  • vollständigIn a total manner; completely
  • komplettIn a total manner; completely
  • völligIn a total manner; completely
  • komplettvery
  • absolutdefinitely
Italian totalmente, completamente
  • totalmenteIn a total manner; completely
  • completamenteIn a total manner; completely
Latin funditus
  • funditusIn a total manner; completely
Polish bezwzględnie, całkowicie
  • bezwzględnieIn a total manner; completely
  • całkowicieIn a total manner; completely
  • totalnieIn a total manner; completely
  • zupełnieIn a total manner; completely
  • totalnievery
Portuguese totalmente
  • totalmenteIn a total manner; completely
Romanian total, totalmente
  • totalIn a total manner; completely
  • totalmenteIn a total manner; completely
Scottish Gaelic gu lèir, gu lèir
  • gu lèirIn a total manner; completely
  • gu lèirvery
Spanish totalmente, de todo punto
  • totalmenteIn a total manner; completely
  • de todo puntoIn a total manner; completely
  • con armas y bagajesIn a total manner; completely
Swedish totalt, verkligen
  • totaltIn a total manner; completely
  • verkligenvery
  • verkligendefinitely
  • självklartdefinitely
  • säkerligendefinitely
  • heltdefinitely
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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