Word
optionally
Phoneticsop·tion·al·ly
UK/ˈɒpʃənəli/
Definition
adv. as a choice or possibility. You use this to describe something that you can do or have, but it is not required.
adv. as a choice or possibility; in a manner that is not mandatory. Often used to describe features or steps that are available but not compulsory.
Examples
“You can optionally add extra cheese to your pizza.”
“The software allows users to optionally save their progress to the cloud or keep it on their local device.”
“While the core requirements are strict, the final chapter of the report may be optionally expanded to include supplementary data that, while interesting, is not essential for the primary analysis.”
Examples
simple
“You can optionally add extra cheese to your pizza.”
contextual
“The software allows users to optionally save their progress to the cloud or keep it on their local device.”
complex
“While the core requirements are strict, the final chapter of the report may be optionally expanded to include supplementary data that, while interesting, is not essential for the primary analysis.”
Etymology
From optional + -ly.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/optionally