significantly
adv.in a way that is large or important enough to be noticed. You use this to show that a change or difference is meaningful.
adv.to a sufficiently great or important degree as to be worthy of attention. Often used to indicate statistical importance or a substantial shift in quantity or quality.
“The price of gas has risen significantly this month.”
“The new software update significantly improved the battery life of the older laptop models.”
“While the initial results were promising, the researchers noted that the experimental group did not perform significantly better than the control group under standardized conditions.”
Typically modifies verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs; in academic contexts, it specifically implies that a result is unlikely to have occurred by chance.
Learners often use the adjective 'significant' to modify another adjective, but an adverb is required.
Usage significantly higher · significantly less · significantly fewer
“However, the vibrations then increased significantly and the crew heard a loud bang.”
“Zookeepers at Twycross Zoo warn that Brexit significantly affected their ability to move animals between Europe and the UK.”
Common in science and history writing
From significant + -ly.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.